Don't Say it With Flowers!
by Starhopper
Summary: Megumi finds that it is impossible to forget when an unwanted memory creeps over her subconscious, forcing itself upon a future she never knew she wanted. STILL SM, KK, YT, AM
1. Say it with a Fist

Don't Say it With Flowers!  
  
By Starhopper  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my sketchbooks and DVDs. Everything else belongs to Nobuhiro Watsuki and many other respected businessmen who make RK available to the masses.  
  
First stop on the RK Anniversary drive is our resident fun couple the Fox and the Rooster!  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
- Say it With a Fist!  
  
Sano edged his way through the usual market crowd, hands dug deep into his pockets, fish bone clenched between his teeth. This was a man who wished to be known, who refused to let the bitter winds of rumor sweep through his city. He would not stand idle as reputations were ripped apart at the seams, never to be stitched back up again.  
  
Unconsciously he gripped at his right hand with his left in a protective fierceness. This hand had been torn, broken, and busted but it could always be gathered up and put back together. Now rumor threatened the seamstress who continued to patch it up and no one wanted to see an unhappy one-handed Sagara Sanosuke.  
  
His white shirt flared out as he stormed the street, accentuating the menacing build and imposing figure of the ex-fighter-for-hirer, ultimately scattering the townspeople standing in his way in a flock of frightened eyes and apologetic bows. His steps were long and flat-footed, almost caveman like, while he dragged an imaginary club behind him through the dirt. With predatory eyes, he scanned the marketplace for his prey. They were found cowering about a wall, hunched over their dice and yen. Good thing too, he was getting ready to bash their heads in.  
  
One recognized him, even waved him over to join their game. "Oi! Zanza!"  
  
Sano narrowed his already burning eyes. Oh yeah, 'Zanza' would come over there. He had to run to keep up with his fists, which were sent flying across the street.  
  
By the time he had caught up, he had the leader pinned against the wall with his right hand at the merchant's neck, his left fist drawn back to his left earlobe. "You think you're funny, eh?"  
  
Despite the vigorous shaking of the man's head, Sano continued to believe that this guy was the funniest man he had ever had the pleasure of beating senseless. With each punch, Sano relayed a rumor, starting with Takani's ineptness to practice medicine, then escalating in volume and strength as the comments grew to become more biting, and mortally wounding to the woman's pride in her beauty and virtue.  
  
Sano paused with arm back, ready to strike, but he wanted to prolong this man's suffering. "The clinic a Brothel? The Fox a prostitute who lures wounded men inside her den and charges extra for the 'special visits'? Now come on, be serious. Did you honestly think I would let you get away with this?" Sano looked away, a smile on his face, shaking his head. But the moment he turned back to face the gambler's contorted countenance, the smile had wrenched itself into a crazed grin that rivaled those of the Battousai or even Sword-hunter-Cho. Arching a brow, Sano lurched behind his flying fist as it slammed into the man's cheek, knocking out some teeth that he bent to spit out when Sano loosened his grip.  
  
"K'so," Sano held his hand, the red bandage's color deepening as his own blood trickled down from his knuckles. "Now look what ya made me do."  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Cradling his hand against his chest like a wounded wing, Sano stepped through the clinic's open door and looked around. Megumi was with a patient at the moment, but guessing at who that was, (Judging by the sounds of a typical tanuki/kitsune argument) Sano continued on his way into the second examination room on his right. He slid down the wall facing the door to sit with legs drawn up so he could rest his elbows on his knees.  
  
Megumi's pale hand gripped the doorframe as she leaned out the entrance, "Honestly Kaoru, I really don't know what he's going to do with you!"  
  
Sano bit down hard on the fish bone to keep himself from chuckling. This was too easy; she was setting him up without even knowing it. However, despite his efforts, the chuckle escaped as a snicker. That got her attention.  
  
She turned at the sound of his voice, pulling her hair back over her shoulders. "Rooster-head, didn't hear you come in,"  
  
"Didn't," He shifted the fish bone into the other side of his mouth, "want you to,"  
  
She knelt to his left, her eyes shaded by her long bangs. "Let me guess, your," Megumi looked up to find his left hand guiltily shoved before her eyes. "hand." She sighed as she took it in her own hands to examine the damage, unwittingly drawing Sano closer by leaning back to see it in the waning light.  
  
Sano let himself be dragged away from the wall as she pulled him onto the mat beneath the window. He winced as she pinched the flesh together to remove a splinter. "Ya know Fox, this is kinda like our anniversary,"  
  
"Listen Rooster-head," she looked tired before she could admit it. "It's been a long day, what with Kaoru's wittle bump on the head and all, and then Sir Ken came in with a little boy he found on the river bank," she let out a cute, yippy yawn that personified her inner-personality. "Not to mention the fact that I didn't sleep at all last night because of the delivery," Megumi looked him straight in the eye. "I'm tired."  
  
Sano actually gulped at that glare she gave him before returning to his wounds. "I was just saying that it's been about six months since you came here,"  
  
Through her sleepy stupor, Megumi grunted, "So . . . ?"  
  
"Seeing as it's only fittin for a lady like yourself to get one," he leaned forward, putting on his cockiest grin yet, "This is my gift to you."  
  
Without a sound, Megumi let his hand fall through hers to the floor and stood up, her bangs once again shielding the eyes that twitched in frustration. Ignoring the ex-gangster's yelp of pain and consequent glare, she turned for the door, but stopped herself to clench her fists to her sides, furiously attempting to keep her cool, collected act together. Failing miserably, she tossed her head up, staring straight down into his eyes, and screamed, "You just don't get it do you?"  
  
By now the fish bone was hanging on Sano's bottom lip, his jaw fallen through the floor in ninety-nine percent shock and one percent amusement. Six months ago today he had seen her cry like this, looking every bit as vulnerable as a lost kit in the woods as she wept not from the sting of Kanryuu's slap, but from her own inability to cope with the situation. Could this be what she was doing now?  
  
"Get what?" Sano raised himself to his feet, unconsciously rubbing at his sore fist. "I do you a favor and this is the thanks I get?"  
  
"Favor?" The wetness in her eyes evaporated to steaming anger. Her steps shook as she approached him, her left hand drawn over her heart, "You think it's a favor for me to see you hurt?"  
  
Sano shook his head both in disbelief as well as in disappointment. "Well if that's your idea," he let the words slip off his tongue and into the air in a whisper loud enough for her to hear, "then you sure are doing one helluva favor for me now Fox,"  
  
Megumi halted her advance, her deep eyes widening at the depth of his retort.  
  
"Are you hurt now?"  
  
"K'so," Sano spat over his shoulder as he turned his back on her.  
  
The silence that hung in the air divided them with a heavy curtain. As the ex-gangster continued to bore a hole in the wall with his eyes, Megumi leaned against the doorframe, trying to make sense of the emotions boiling beneath her skin. She raised her hand and opened her mouth, but let both fall and lips close with a shake of her head. "How can you say that?"  
  
Sano's slumping shoulders tensed at the cautious tone of her voice, but though his head rose, he refused to let his body twist around see a tentative fox instead of a sly one. "Say what," he muttered around the old fishbone, obviously just as uncomfortable with the silence as she was.  
  
Wrapping her arms about herself, Megumi shuddered. "About an anniversary,"  
  
"Just what I said Fox," he stated matter-of-factly, turning his head slightly so as to give her a profile view of a man crestfallen. He had done something for her out of his own heart and instead of a hearty thank- you, or at the very most a brief hug, he was sitting well apart from her.  
  
She leaned her head against the sturdy wood frame of the doorway and cast her eyes to the buildings of Tokyo that were glowing gold in the premature stages of sunset. Letting her head fall back against the wood with a dejected thud, she hugged herself tighter. "How can it be so?"  
  
Sano's eyes narrowed at her question, and he swiveled around to meet the gaze that was drifting out the window to the city beyond. He rose from the bamboo mat and came to stand in front of the window, staring her down with a look that begged disbelief.  
  
As his eyes connected to hers, the doctor looked away, back to the place Sano had been sitting. "We've been doing this to each other for so long now," she continued, unconsciously taking a step back as if anticipating an advance on his part.  
  
"Six months and three days, if I remember correctly,"  
  
Megumi looked up at him through the shadowed curtain of her bangs, a startled primal look, rounded with fear. He knew that if he took a step she would sprint with the speed of her namesake.  
  
Scratching the back of his neck with his right hand, Sano nodded as if to say "Yeah, that's right, I can count," and tried to give her one of his patented grins. She once again only looked away.  
  
Again, that irritating silence. If it had taken on some sort of tangible form, Sanosuke would have beaten it senseless. They always had words to spar with, but now, when they needed them most, no syllable dared to coalesce on his tongue ready to be thrown in her face. All there was were the distant sounds of people living and the dead air not breathing.  
  
Finally, Megumi moved away from the doorframe and stood with head raised, and eyes open, no longer hiding under the veil of her hair. With a stamp of her foot, she took a breath and asked, "How can you tell me it's our anniversary when there is no 'our', Rooster?"  
  
Sano faltered at this, trying to piece the situation in his mind like an extremely hard puzzle. Setting his eyes to the ground, he worked out his own thoughts internally as she did aloud.  
  
"I don't know if I can take this kind of torture anymore," the good doctor continued, starting to pace in a little circle on her half of the room. "One minute we're arguing and the next it gets so hot that I can barely breathe,"  
  
The ex-gangster remained silent, knowing this little talk had been a long time coming. Since insulting her for the first time to the moment he had held her hand as she threatened to commit suicide, he had known this conversation would be coming. There was only one problem . . . it was happening without him.  
  
"And then there's the rest of our friends, who chastise us for being so blind, but I know I see as clearly as you do Sanosuke,"  
  
That caught his attention. He jerked his head up and bit down hard on the fishbone. "Hold on a minute there Fox," he rocked back on his heels, folding his arms tightly across his chest. "What did you just call me?"  
  
"Who is the better question, Rooster," a small semblance of a smile flickered across her features.  
  
He arched an eyebrow, "Whoa, now I'm confused." And he was.  
  
"Not an unfamiliar thing for you to be," she grunted, returning the brow- arch by jutting her chin out and pursing her lips to a pout. "Answer me this time." She commanded.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
She stomped her foot again and he inwardly jumped. "Answer me, how can there be an anniversary that we share when - " Her courage was draining as the emotional intensity of her question became more and more apparent.  
  
He took a step forward, and to his surprise she didn't spring to her feet and run. His eyes locking onto hers, he moved on, coming to stand before her just as she was stuttering out the question that had broken into several more syllables with his approach.  
  
"When we have nev -"  
  
Sano gripped her arm just below the shoulder with his wounded left hand, and pushed her firmly against the wall. Searching her wide chestnut eyes for any sign of resistance, he whispered "Never - ?"  
  
"Never shown that we deserve an - "  
  
He nodded as her head bent down, bringing his right hand to catch her chin and draw her eyes back up to his.  
  
" - an anniversary." As she breathed the last part, Sano let go of her chin, and rested his free hand flat against the wall by her head, both of their breaths becoming quick and deep with anticipation.  
  
As he leaned in, she lunged forward, her hands shooting up through his hair and clasping together at the back of skull to pull his head down to her.  
  
He let his eyes shut close in delirium, returning the kiss slowly as she backed off. Then it was his turn. Giving her captive arm a sharp squeeze, he was relieved to feel her arms fall from their caress of his head to lie passively at her sides. Bottled emotions exploded at this moment that he felt her understand. Deepening the kiss, he felt her tremble underneath his grip. Fisting his right hand, he slammed it lightly against the space on the wall near her head, frustrated and angry with himself for letting it all wait this long. With her enthusiastic return, he slammed his fist harder and more furiously, his mind spinning at the softness of her lips, the sweetness of her tongue, the heat burning between their chests as she pressed herself closer to him.  
  
Moving his mouth behind her ear, he reveled in the feeling as his name grated deep in her throat, emerging as the primal growl of "Sanosuke," from the lips of one so privileged and proper.  
  
As he pressed his lips to the hollow of her throat, he moaned her name against the skin of her neck and once again felt her tremble. Coming up on the other side of her throat, he whispered, "Is this a better gift?"  
  
She giggled sweetly as gravity got the best of them, pulling her down to the sit on the floor with Sano sitting to her left, his torso stretched over her lap as he continued to convince her that they did indeed deserve an anniversary. "Oh, yes," she hissed as he kissed her at the spot where her jaw connected to her earlobe. "Much better than a fist."  
  
The sun dipped below the horizon just as the word, "Ashiteru" was being whispered into Megumi's ear. And underneath the vastness of cosmic blue velvet unfurling above their heads, both Sagara Sanosuke and Takani Megumi realized how wonderful it was to celebrate their six-month anniversary . . . together.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Ya like? TELL ME! Please Review! 


	2. Say it with a Promise

Don't Say it With Flowers!  
  
By Starhopper  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my sketchbooks and DVDs. Everything else belongs to Nobuhiro Watsuki and many other respected businessmen who make RK available to the masses.  
  
Young love, first love, its romantic donch ya know! And with a sweet little girl like Tsubame and of course Yahiko-CHAN, how can I go wrong?  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
- Say it With a Promise!  
  
Rolling his eyes, Yahiko straightened his arms in front of him and let out a cub growl in the direction of his Sensei.  
  
"Yahiko!"  
  
"Nani, Busu?" he asked, visibly perturbed as he glared at her out of the corner of his eye. "I corrected my mistake."  
  
Completing her circle of inspection, Kaoru kneeled down behind him. "I see that," she tapped the backs of his legs into the proper position with the end of her bokuto. Satisfied, she took a step back, "There, feel how your weight shifted?"  
  
"Hai." He replied, thoroughly disinterested. Tsubame was waiting for him by the river to watch him practice. He couldn't really explain it, but it had been extremely important for him to see her today. And at the very moment he'd slipped his sandals on, ready to make a break for the gate, Kaoru had caught him by the collar and dragged him, kicking and screaming as could be expected, to the training hall in order to practice under her watchful gaze.  
  
That had been three hours ago. And with every minute, those tanuki eyes of hers were slanting and narrowing into the eyes of a predator, who only wanted to chase him senseless before swooping low and making the kill.  
  
"Now swing!"  
  
Ruefully obeying, the young samurai was amazed at the amount of force he drove from the air in front of him. His eyes grew wide as he felt the pressure push past him, the grin of victory slowly edging itself under his cheeks. But the accomplishment faded as the wooden floor of the practice hall rushed up to eagerly greet him in the face.  
  
Sprawled and twitching on the floor, Yahiko groaned. And now would be Kaoru's most favorite part of the lesson. If it weren't bad enough that she kept him from seeing the cute little waitress, now she would revel in her self-proclaimed prowess. Standing over him, he could see the maniacal fire dancing in her eyes, the lips pulled back to bare shining, gloating teeth.  
  
"Why didn't you correct yourself that time?" she almost laughed, stooping down to his level.  
  
In an answer, her student rolled onto his back and hand-sprung himself back into fighting stance, twisting in midair to fall flat on his feet, facing his opponent, the shinai still held in his right hand with a very assured grasp. His eyes scorched Kaoru with their chestnut fire as he held the end of the wooden sword at her throat.  
  
"Mou, it was your own fault, don't blame me. "  
  
Yahiko clenched his teeth. "Demo, you are the Sensei."  
  
"Precisely," Kaoru slammed a fist into her open palm, a small tanuki smile curling her lips. "Don't forget that."  
  
Seeing her inner-personality taking over, her student was struck with inspiration. If he wanted to get out of here, and fast, he'd have to lure the raccoon away with a bit of meat . . . meat like the red-headed rurouni who would surely, by now, be sitting beside the wash tub in the yard, and needed help with hanging up the laundry.  
  
Careful to keep the devious smile hidden, Yahiko lowered the end of the shinai to rest on the ground, elbow propped against the top so as to lean on the weapon in such a disrespectful way that a master of any swordsmanship would have to notice. And the Kamiya Kasshin master was of no exception.  
  
"Yahiko! Stop that this instant, you should know better!"  
  
"Oi, Busu," his eyes flitted up to the ceiling in feigned indifference, "how am I supposed to learn anything from a Tanuki-girl like you?"  
  
As Kaoru pulled her sleeve back to wallop him good, Yahiko was off and running out the door, laughing like a maniac as he went. Thudding down the walkway, he rounded the corner to come to the yard where, as sure as the sun rises each day, Himura Kenshin sat by the wash tub, humming a little tune as he scrubbed one of Kaoru's kimonos.  
  
Leaping off of the porch, he touched down and ran straight for his target. Poor Kenshin, he really hated to do this to him, but it was the only way. It had been weeks since he'd seen Tsubame last. And on that apricot evening outside the Akabeko, he had promised her she could watch him train, to see how strong he had gotten since returning from his fight in Kyoto. Springing to his toes once more, Yahiko took to the air, flipping over Kenshin just as the ex-manslayer was plowed into the ground by the Sensei who couldn't stop her pursuit in time.  
  
So pleased with himself, Yahiko landed and continued his run to freedom, the dojo's entrance clearly in sight. Just a few more strides and he'd be on the streets of Tokyo, far away from his egotistical teacher and her painful lessons. Taking one moment to rub the end of his nose at the recent memory, Yahiko let his eyes focus on his nose as well, and not at the once open gate where someone now stood.  
  
In that fraction of an instant, Yahiko had rammed into Sagara Sanosuke head on, with no chance of slamming on the figurative brakes to avoid the collision. He felt himself being peeled off of the ground and shaken out by the collar. Oh, always by the collar. How he HATED being little.  
  
Meanwhile the ex-gangster had him hanging from it, raised off the ground so they could see eye to extremely pissed eye.  
  
"And where were you goin', Yahiko-chan?" Sano grated over his fishbone, making a conscious effort to accentuate the 'chan'.  
  
He had already been struggling to keep his cool, but now Yahiko was furious. First Kaoru, then his lesson, now Sanosuke and his demeaning suffix. CHAN? He let his seething anger boil and froth over the edges as he blindly swung a fist out at the ex-gangster. "Just let me go will ya?" he growled.  
  
Sanosuke smirked at the failed attempt to hit him and countered with a shake of his right hand, sending Yahiko into another rage as he was swung back and forth like a pendulum. "Nah," Sano's attention was snatched away by something quickly approaching them, and the smirk was replaced with a grin possessed by the devil himself. "Look's to me like you're gonna need someone to hold you out of reach of Jou-chan."  
  
Despite the furious shaking of the samurai's spiky head, Sano turned him to face the raccoon, charging at full fury with the rurouni barely holding her back. It seemed to Yahiko that despite how strong his idol was in battle, he somehow lost all physical strength when it came to holding back Kaoru's wrath. Especially when it was aimed for her student's throat.  
  
"I'll kill him. You hear that Yahiko!"  
  
"Kaoru-dono, I don't think it would be the greatest idea in the world to kill him just yet de gozaru."  
  
Yahiko turned his head to look at Sano, glittering his eyes to plead, beg, pray, anything to somehow appeal to the man's sense of heart. He had five seconds to live, and all he wanted to do was see Tsubame. Maybe he would try that tact first.  
  
Five. Kenshin was restraining Kaoru by the sheer might of his spindly arms pinning her to his chest.  
  
"I made a promise to Tsubame!"  
  
Sano raised his eyebrows. "To do what exactly?"  
  
Yahiko ground his teeth together, shaking with protective fury. "Leave Tsubame out of your hentai daydreams, ahou!"  
  
Sano waved him off with a flutter of his eyes. "Oh you kids, so naive."  
  
Four. She'd wriggled free of his embrace and now was plodding onward, the rurouni's hands wound about her ankles in the vain hope of weighing her down. However, the violent intenisty of her eyes told him she still intended to kill and maim with or without her human anchor.  
  
Then he remembered. He had been slapped awfully hard for making fun of Sanosuke and Megumi-san at that party so many months ago. Maybe just a little too hard . . . like there had been something to hide. And it was true that as of late, Sano disappeared off the face of the earth around dinner-time. He hadn't gone out to eat with anyone from the dojo in about two months.  
  
Yahiko wasn't stupid. He could read the signs, and once he had passed by the clinic to see what looked to be a white gi fluttering through the window. Of course that could have been Dr. Genzai's but the coincidence seemed uncanny at the time.  
  
Three. Kaoru was biding him time by turning around to berrate Kenshin for stopping her.  
  
"Oi Sano, I've been wondering, " the boy let his eyes scan the sky, then drift down over in the direction of the clinic, somewhere down the street and to the left. The man gulped a little, eyes widening, but true to his tough-guy façade, Sano didn't let a line of worry trace his features. Yahiko continued. "Why haven't you been bumming food off us lately? And it seems every time I walk by the clinic," he nodded to the black lines of Sano's 'aku' gi. "I see that shirt of yours hanging on the door." Elbowing Sano in the ribs, Yahiko winked. "And isn't it getting a little late for you to be out? I bet Megumi's getting lonely."  
  
There, apprehension crossed the taller man's eyes and narrowed his eyebrows before Sano set him on the ground. "You don't really know, do you?"  
  
Yahiko didn't waste one more second to answer him. As soon as his feet made contact with the substantial surety of mother earth, he darted off in the direction of the gate. That was when he grinned and called, "I didn't . . . but I do now!"  
  
His personal victory was made that much sweeter as he skipped through the entrance, and upon hopping in the center of the street, raised a hand to cup his ear. Two seconds to spare! He took a breath, which was quickly followed by a sprint down the street, Sanosuke's colorful catchphrases and Kaoru's screams of how immature he was still ringing delightfully in his ears.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Once he had slid down the riverbank to his usual training tree, Yahiko skidded to a halt, bending over his knees to catch his breath. Boy, that had been fun. And educational to boot! Not that the thought of Sano and Dr. Megumi wasn't nauseating.  
  
Because it was.  
  
However the abundance of blackmail opportunities outweighed the gross implications. Ideas of said blackmail were already crisscrossing his mind. When the group had the taste for hot beef pots, his would be paid for, courtesy of Sagara Sanosuke, who would do anything to keep his dirty little secret under wraps. And what about lessons? Surely he could talk Sano into aruging with the tanuki just long enough for Yahiko to escape her clutches. Oh yes, this would be something to torture the Rooster-head with for quite some time.  
  
"Is that you, Yahiko-chan?"  
  
Sealing his eyes shut, the aforementioned boy squeezed his fist into a white-knuckled ball. Just let it go, let it go. Its Tsubame remember? She doesn't mean it malicisiously or anything. Letting his eyes open, he saw her step out from behind the lone tree, her face shadowed by the dying light, but her eyes sparkled through the darkness.  
  
"Konbanwa Tsubame-chan," he greeted her sheepishly, a hand going to rub the back of his neck. "Sumanesai, but Kaoru stopped me and,"  
  
"Daijoubou Yahiko-chan," she set down the tray of rice balls she'd been carrying and shyly walked over to him. Peering at him through concerned eyes, she smiled. "I can see you've been sweating. It must have been a good practice." Despite how her eyes glittered in sincerity, he couldn't help but detect a small hint of forlorn sadness. He had practiced, but she hadn't seen him.  
  
Hand still massaging the back of his neck, he found his shinai with his fingers and pulled it loose of its strappings. Well, if she hadn't been able to see him practice when he normally did, she would see it now. "Oh, it would have been better had you been there to watch it." He threw the wooden sword into the air, and was delighted to catch it while in stance. Relieved that this act of showing-off hadn't backfired, he bowed low to cover a thankful sigh. "A promise is a promise afterall," he grinned, galantly raising his head.  
  
"Iie, you don't have to." Tsubame waved her hands in front of her, as if fending off his offer. But the smile she wore begged him to continue.  
  
"But I do," Yahiko carefully caught one of those hands. He dropped it just as Tsubame's fingers thoughtfully folded around his palm and both flushed furiously at how bold he had been. "I mean, I, I promised you that you could watch, and I'm a man of my word."  
  
"Alright," she giggled, cradling her hand close to her chest, "if you want to."  
  
He nodded and without another word, leapt into the air, bringing his right leg around to knock one of the wood slats off to the right, then brought his shinai down on it as it swung back into place, all the while maintaining a great warrior's yell. He grinned as he landed, spinning about on knee, foot, and ground like he had seen Kenshin do so many times. The move had been executed perfectly to avoid an embarassing counterattack by his 'opponent', one that would've sent him nose first into the gound.  
  
Facing Tsubame, he could see her smile broaden as she clapped her hands. "You've improved greatly Yahiko-chan." Her harmonious little girl giggle reminded him of that first day they had met when he had collided with the wood slat and his strings on his sandal had snapped with the force. "You're really becoming a man,"  
  
Heat flushed his cheeks and he laughed to cover his embarassment. "Arigatou Tsubame-chan,"  
  
"Honto, you truly are strong,"  
  
Now he knew his whole body was red, from spiky hairline down to his toes. He just thanked Kami-sama that he had decided to wear the tabi socks even with Kaoru fighting him barefoot. Nope, ole Ugly wasn't about to trick him into embarassing himself in the future. And he sure as hell wouldn't do it now.  
  
To prove the little girl right, he took a breath and started taking the steps to the Kamiya Kasshin move he'd been taught that morning. From a charge, he brought the shinai into one of the slats at an angle, then flipped it back over to ram on the top. He then took a few purposeful steps backward to set the weight on his legs right and charged again, this time dodging the first piece of wood and turning on his heel to come back at it in full force. Only this time, as he brought the end of the shinai down, he countered the weight that had shifted to the foot he stepped out on by leaning to the left slightly. The air pressure hit him from an angle instead of head on, which kept him from falling. Standing back up, he looked at the slat that was now hanging several feet in the air, its rope wound around the branch multiple times.  
  
He'd done it. And she had seen it, which made the whole execution even better.  
  
The silence between her gushing and his thinkng about his socks and executing the move had stretched so long that Yahiko forgot it she had even asked a question that he needed to respond to. But Tsubame piped up as she stooped to retrieve the tray laden with food, "And in order to feed that strength you need food." She settled herself on the incline in the bank and patted the slanted gound next to her. "Come, you must be starving with two practices today."  
  
She clapped as he slid the sword into place on his back and bowed to signal the end of the practice session.  
  
"Really, Tsubame," Yahiko hoped she would notice how he left off the 'chan' as he took a rice ball from off the plate, "I'm very sorry for being late."  
  
"You couldn't help it," Tsubame took a bite of rice and chewed it slowly. "But I'm happy you kept your promise."  
  
Inside, Yahiko groaned. "But three hours,"  
  
"I've been waiting longer than that to celebrate how long I've known you, Yahiko-chan." The little girl swallowed, "It's been eight months since we met." She turned her brown eyes up to his.  
  
"I'm hap-happy we did," Yahiko smiled as he settled next to her, then quickly took a large bite that left his cheeks speckled with rice.  
  
"I don't think I've ever had a friend for so long," she continued, shifting on her knee to face him. "Arigatou," smiling, she rose a fingertip and sponged off a few of the grains around his mouth and giggled. "For everything."  
  
Damn the physical tendency of the body to blush! Yahiko was convinced that his skin was burning cherry bright under her touch. Not only was she sweet and quiet when talking with him, she was also caring. None one else ever cared about how messy his face was when he ate. Well, that wasn't necessarlarly true. Kenshin would sigh and shake his head, Kaoru would wap him upside his own head, and Sanosuke would try to out do him. Only she would be affectionate while drawing his attention to clean up.  
  
Why did she do this to him every, single time? Yahiko shook his head, hoping that the redness on his face would somehow fly off to blend with the sunset. However, her admission was able to echo through his ears and awaken his other senses aside from the embarassment.  
  
"I'm your first friend?" he asked, increduality dripping off of every word. He still couldn't look directly at her, fearing that the blush would spread again.  
  
She fidgeted under his quesiton. "Well, I was with those Yakuza for so long, and they never treated me well,"  
  
The scene played out through the young samurai's head in slides. First the sound of slap, second Tsubame falling to the ground, third himself falling to the ground, fourth he was knocking out some of the underlings in the alley, and finally fifth, the sound of little Tsubame cheering him on. And then the closing sight of the yakuza running away. Yahiko felt his grip tighten on his riceball with the memory. He had sworn to make them hurt if they dared to ever show their faces around the Akabeko again. Fortunately, they hadn't.  
  
He didn't notice that the contents of the riceball had exploded between his fingers when he had rounded his fist. "Aa, I remember."  
  
"Before I met you, I didn't know what a friend was." She pulled the grain- covered palm into her lap and started to brush it clean.  
  
Yahiko could feel the hairs on the back of his neck rise as her fingertips touched his while little lightning bolts shot down his spine as she made a circle in the center of his palm with her thumb. She stopped as she grazed the callouses growing just below his fingers, then softly massaged them, as if testing their very existence to make sure they were real.  
  
Meanwhile Yahiko was melting into a pool of butter, draining himself along the hillside. Why did she do this to him, he wondered again. How could Tsubame strip him of his brashest layers until only this blushing, evaporating young boy remained?  
  
"You're getting tougher," she sighed, wistfully holding his now clean hand between both of hers.  
  
"Uh," he wasn't quite sure as to how he should handle the situation. Surely blanking out and imagining himself as a snowman melting in the spring sun wasn't going to help. And the way she kept acting reminded him of how Kaoru had acted around Kenshin before he left for Kyoto. Could that be it?  
  
"I'm not goin anywhere or nothin," he assured her somewhat sheepishly.  
  
Abruptly, Tsubame let his hand fly free and turned her head to face away from him. "I know, but I was really worried about you when you left, and now that you're getting stronger, you might leave again,"  
  
"Ah, don't worry." Yahiko stretched his arms back to support himself, using it as a reason to lean closer to her. "I'd never leave without telling you," Unlike his idol, who had left without saying a word to anyone but ole Ugly.  
  
Her shoulders started to shake, "Even to work on your training?"  
  
The boy reached around and touched her right hand before drawing his own back to where she had last seen it. As he had expected, she turned her head to catch him in the act of getting her attention. "I promise to let you watch me train whenever you want." He grinned and cocked his head to the side, appealing to his innocent boy-charm. "And if that means I have to travel, you'll just have to come along with me,"  
  
"Truly?" she sniffed hopefully, rubbing her nose with the back of her hand. That was when he realized she had been crying.  
  
"I promised you didn't I?" forcing all the defensive tones to the surface, Yahiko sat up and stared her in the face. "I said I was a man of my word, after all,"  
  
"Hai, hai!" she clapped, the last of the tears streaming down her cheeks. "It's a promise then, Yahiko-chan."  
  
"And no Tanuki or Chicken-heads are gonna stop me from keeping it," Yahiko resolved, slamming a fist into his open palm.  
  
"Nani?"  
  
"Oh, nothing Tsubame," he jumped to his feet and held out his hand for her, "It's getting late, hope you don't mind if I walk ya home."  
  
She giggled, grabbing the tray with one hand and accepting his invitation with the other. As they started their walk back to the Akabeko, she gripped his hand harder to slow him down.  
  
"Yahiko-chan?"  
  
"Yes, Tsubame?"  
  
"I'm-um, happy you're my friend," giving his hand another squeeze, she fell into his step with a secret smile. "That's all,"  
  
"I'm happy too," and he was. It felt nice to have her so close to him as they walked down the silent streets.  
  
He thought back to his promise as he let her go to help close up the restaurant, calling out a friendly, "Good Night!" as he started to work his way back to the dojo. If he ever was to travel, a thought highly unlikely because as soon as he got home, he wouldn't be able to walk to his room, much less wander through the country, he would take Tsubame with him. She always gave him the courage he needed to attack a new opponent with all the power he had.  
  
"I believe in you, Yahiko-chan!"  
  
His step slowed as he turned to look back at the Akabeko one more time. A sword that protects . . . was created to protect Tsubame. If he could weild a real sword one day, then it would be used in protecting people like her.  
  
Patting the shinai strapped to his back, Yahiko smiled and turned on his heel. For now, his wooden sword would work just fine. But he needed to train and practice first, and she would always be there to watch his progress.  
  
A promise was a promise afterall.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
A/N: That was so much fun. This took 2 days people, 2 days! My shortest time in writing a fic yet! (With the exception of the songfics.) Oh I love writing this kind of story, I'm such a sucka for thweet thtuff. :3 Oh, hope you didn't mind more action, but considering how young they are, I had to be careful about how romantic their little meeting could get. So I settled for cheesy handholding . . . eh, I'm happy with it. Also, I'm a bit drained from writing such a deep story like 'Tears of Buddha', so I wanted to do something other than get lost in Aoshi's psyche . . . which is fun in itself, don't get me wrong, but it's a little hard to handle writing every. single. day.  
  
Well, now comes the time for all good readers to review and tell me what you thought of it. Of course, now that you've seen I've done my duty as a good author and updated this series with a Ken and Kao story, you just might want to go ahead and read that one and then review. Either way, I'd be happy. ^_^ 


	3. Say it with out the Dono

Don't Say it With Flowers!  
  
By Starhopper  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my sketchbooks and DVDs. Everything else belongs to Nobuhiro Watsuki and many other respected businessmen who make RK available to the masses.  
  
Ah yes, Sessha and Kaoru-dono . . .  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
- Say it With Out the Dono!  
  
Kenshin awoke with a start to find himself leaning against the shoji of his room. Blinking sleep clear of his purple eyes, he felt the weight of his sakabatou against his shoulder, and carefully let it slide from his shoulder and fall to the floor with a soft clatter.  
  
He smiled, lifting his face up to the sunlight slowly creeping in through the open doorway directly ahead of him. It was reassuring to know that no matter how many times he relived dark and stormy nightmares, the world outside of his dreams would welcome him with sun. Every morning. And birds would flit in and out of the rays filtering through the leaves, singing with the joy of just being alive. And he would sit and listen, only listen. He was alive like them, but he couldn't afford to be joyous like them. The innocent feathers had never bled blood that wasn't their own. They had never committed heinous crimes and felt the weight burden their hearts with each light of the breaking day as they awoke from a night of horrifying memories. If only he could let them fly away.  
  
But that was for the night, and it was another morning.  
  
Kenshin rose to his feet and stretched; popping some bones back into place in his spine from sleeping slumped over his knees. With a suffering sigh, he walked to the doorway, eying the barely-brushed folded futon. Maybe one day, once he had accepted the past, he could return to sleeping beneath the sheets once more. But for now, they would lay untouched, unstained.  
  
Like her.  
  
Kaoru was already out in the dojo with a practically snoring Yahiko, watching him with a teacher's critical eye. As he peeked around the corner of the shoji, he watched her shake her head, the brilliant blue eyes narrowing as her student executed a particularly sloppy move. Kenshin tried to turn away, tried to will his eyes to not openly stare at the eighteen year-old. It was completely wrong. Utterly wrong, unforgivably wrong.  
  
Upon successfully turning his eyes, the rurouni set them to the ceiling as he leaned back against the inner wall and started counting off the oh-so- many-reasons why he couldn't possibly impose his affections on her. He had begun the morning with one: unstained. How could he possibly touch her with hands as stained as his? And yet he already had, far too many times for her own good. Holding up his hands, he looked at the right then left, his eyes going wide at the clash of war and affection fighting for control of his memories. He had killed with the very same hands that sheltered her from rain, consoled her on a ship's railing, held her to him with a good- bye lit by fireflies.  
  
And then there was the unforgivability factor. He had abandoned her to face his past, and she had forgiven him without so many words. She should have hated him as much as he hated himself. But she didn't. She forgave when forgiveness was a slowly fading rainbow he had been chasing for the better part of his life. How could he possibly put her into that same position again if the fires of his past decided to consume him? Enter the unbelievable coping mechanism called the Battousai.  
  
He had been forewarned, but like the baka deshi he was, he had ignored the possibility of it ever happening. A split personality to cope with the horrors of being a sweet-natured man who killed by the sword of god. In that frame of mind, he could kill her . . . on accident . . . again.  
  
The night is over. No more talk of the past. It's morning.  
  
Several ideas collided at the same time, drilling up a grating headache pounding at the base of his skull. The decade difference. There would be talk, feelings of resent, an old man with a teenager hanging off his arm. And then there was the fact that she was glorious and joyous, everything that he didn't deserve to be. She was too young, too innocent, to pure for this man to set his eyes on. Much less love.  
  
But he knew he was weak in that respect. Despite how much he argued with himself, he always disobeyed his own advice. He loved her, yes. But that love couldn't be allowed. Throughout the day, he would steal moments to adore her from afar, then drive out any alluring thoughts that dared to cross his mind the next morning with the list. But today would be different, he could already tell. He had woken to her voice, and seen her move. That was enough for today; he simply could not think about her for the next twenty-four hours. Or until the nightmares came with the moon, whichever came first.  
  
Chastened, Kenshin took a cleansing breath and drew his arms up into the long sleeves of his cheery gi. Now he could prepare breakfast without being distracted by her very presence. That had happened so many times before he had adopted this morning ritual of listing everything that stood against them. Her life had been hard enough before he came; the last thing he wanted to do was make it harder. She didn't deserve that. With a wavering shake of his head, Kenshin secured the reverse-blade sword into the tie of his hakama, and opened the door leading to the hallway and happy chorus of giggles at the dining table that lay beyond.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
He heard the simultaneous cheer of "Ken-ni!" before he saw them. Just as they rounded the gate, he reminded himself about watching her, and glanced at Kaoru quickly to acknowledge her presence, then bent to receive the Genzai sisters' welcome.  
  
"Hai, Suzame-chan, Ayame-chan!" Kenshin greeted the youngsters as they broke away from Kaoru's side and ran straight into his arms.  
  
As they chattered about the latest delivery at the clinic, Kenshin put on his best smile and laughed along with them, pretending not to notice the dejected Kamiya Kasshin master shuffle up the stairs behind them. He suspected that she already knew something was wrong. But really, there was nothing wrong with saving her from the pain that his affection would bring. Still, he lifted his left eye-lid a fraction to see her drop the bucket of tofu at the top of the stairs and storm off in the direction of the training hall.  
  
He winced, knowing that her anger was his fault. But truthfully would she want to be annoyed or unhappy because of him? A fleeting annoyance was better.  
  
He had managed to avoid talking to her during breakfast by being unusually engaging in conversation with Yahiko about his improved sword-skills, then turned back to the ever-present gangster to grill him about his latest scandal at the dice game. Even as he had taken interest in how wide Sano's smile had been for over the past five months, Kaoru didn't seem to care. She had just sat idly at his side, placing the food into her mouth one portion at a time. Perhaps she had also realized the futility of it all as he had.  
  
Glancing down to the girls dancing around at his feet, Kenshin gave himself a mental tap on the head. Now was that not thinking about her? No. Last time, promise. "Sessha wa-"  
  
"No Ken-ni!" Ayame grabbed ahold of his left sleeve. "Come!"  
  
"Yeah," her sister took hold of right and started to pull him towards the house. "We have something to show you,"  
  
"Oro?" escaped his lips before they yanked him to the side of the house, coming around to the back where a child-sized banquet was set and waiting on the porch. He felt himself blush as he "Oro!" -ed once again.  
  
"Happy Anniversary Ken-ni!" they crooned, still dragging him towards the food. Until then, the purple eyes of the rurouni had been fixated on the food, he hadn't realized how late it was had gotten while running through the list of chores. But when the pure white tabi socks, blue pants, and brown gi of the Kasshin master came into view, Kenshin forgot to honor his promise of not "cheating," letting his eyes slowly drift up from toe to stunning blue eyes.  
  
The thin line she held her mouth in broke as she joined another round of "Happy Anniversary," but her voice was so soft, he couldn't decide whether she had just mouthed the words. She didn't smile, only looked diffused, like a light had gone out.  
  
Because of him, he was sure of it. Dammit. Just when he thought he was saving her, he had put her into danger once again. And if there were any second-thoughts on his behalf, the redness branching away from the blue of her eyes told him different.  
  
"Kaoru-dono," he hadn't looked away from her since she'd stepped onto the porch and didn't intend to. The happy tidings the sister's brought fell onto his deaf ears. There was only her face and quivering lip that she bravely held still. Even as he disengaged himself from Suzame, then Ayame's grip, he allowed himself to let his eyes fall upon her and finally what she wore.  
  
Assuming he was staring at the out-of-place outfit, Kaoru self-consciously smoothed the creases of fabric around her hips and coughed. "It's what I was wearing,"  
  
"The night we met," he finished for her and a wave of relief washed over her face. How could he be such an idiot? "Nearly a year ago, de gozaru."  
  
Now her smile lit up her face, the tears flowing freely as she nodded, mumbling, "You remembered."  
  
"I do now de gozaru yo." He was still breathless.  
  
Kaoru looked up in surprise. He dipped his head in answer to her unspoken question. Yes, he had heard her. He lifted a hand to touch his scar, his head still bowed in unworthiness. He wasn't worthy of her forgiveness, on any occasion.  
  
Taking a hesitant step towards him, she stooped to look under his bangs and slowly covered her hand over his. He felt her raise his face up to meet her gaze that was indiscernible because she shook her head before burying it into his shoulder. "Kenshin,"  
  
Shock subsiding, he carefully returned her embrace; drawing his arms tighter about her back until he was sure she was suffocating. But she only hugged him harder. "Don't leave me," her whisper blew hot into his ear and all reasoning as to why he couldn't hold her like this every day of his life filed through his head, one at a time.  
  
Unstained: Too late, he was holding her now.  
  
"I thought you might leave,"  
  
Unforgivable: If that's what he was to everyone including himself, she and she alone would always welcome him back. Hopefully she would never have to again.  
  
Her lips brushed against his earlobe as she explained in a semi-delirious tone, "You've seemed so distant lately,"  
  
Battousai: Consider him an ally.  
  
"Like you were before,"  
  
Age: As his master so eloquently said it, he was a baka deshi. Well then, let her teach him about this side of the life he had so stupidly forgotten.  
  
He didn't deserve this. But she did. She deserved to be held . . . comforted . . . loved.  
  
Kenshin let his head roll into her neck, nestle against her slightly moist cheek. She deserved it and that was the point. "Sumanesai,"  
  
She drew back as far as his hold around her waist would allow. "Nani?"  
  
"Sessha,"  
  
Kaoru pressed a finger to his lips, silencing him. "Kenshin no baka," With the other hand, she gently pried his fingers loose from her waist and led him down the steps, eager to start working on their anniversary lunch.  
  
Slowly sinking to the stairs, Kenshin let his eyes drink of her youth and bathe in the sunlight that had the permission to run wild through her hair. And as they started to eat, he couldn't stop smiling as she happily recalled the shopping trip that led to this bountiful feast of two rice balls, painstakingly rolled by Suzame and Ayame, one saucer of sake and cup of tea each, and some ohaki prepared by Kaoru.  
  
Suddenly, the Kamiya master's eyes flitted up to his as she asked, "Can you really believe that you've been with me - er us for nearly a year?"  
  
Kenshin nodded at her, took a long sip of his tea, and upon setting the cup down, looked up to the sky, his thoughts drifting to similar skies but very different times. "It all blurs together de gozaru yo," He looked back at her, "For Sessha at least."  
  
"Aa, after all the time you were wandering, your time here must seem pretty insignificant," Kaoru added with a fearful glint in her eye that threatened for more tears to come if he didn't answer with what she wanted to hear.  
  
"Iie," he replied deeply, feeling his eyes turn darkly violet towards shimmering blue. "Ten years of wandering cannot compare to mere months of living here with you, Kaoru-dono." He covered his left hand over her right from where she rested it on the stair. "Please don't think otherwise," He closed his fingers around hers. "Please, it is Sessha who begs this de gozaru,"  
  
To his surprise, the tears slowly trickled down her cheeks regardless of what he said.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
The weight on his arm was all the same familiar and alien. She rested her head on his shoulder as they walked along the riverbank, both arms wrapped around his left, refusing to let go even as he gestured to the erratic flight of the blossoms riding the wind. Kaoru's eyes followed their paths across the sky, but she refused to move her head from the security his shoulder offered.  
  
Though he couldn't really blame her. He allowed himself a flicker of a grin to grace his features. 'Don't leave me,' the poor thing. She had thought he was going to leave again. And even when he had reassured her with a smile and a soft caress of the hand, she was still in a haze of disbelief. Kenshin hoped that by inviting her for a long walk along the riverbank he could slowly dissipate that thick cloud hanging over her head.  
  
As if acting as an anchor would stop him from wandering.  
  
Smart girl . . . because it would.  
  
He chuckled softly to himself while looking up into the sky, a swirl of blossoms arching over their heads. Kaoru pulled her head up, but her embrace lingered.  
  
"Something funny Kenshin?" she asked drowsily.  
  
"Kaoru-dono," he glanced down at her, not expecting to meet her soft gaze. He coated his surprise over with a typical rurouni smile. "Sessha wishes only for your happiness, de gozaru."  
  
She propped her chin on his shoulder, looking him straight in the eyes. "I am happy because of you Kenshin,"  
  
"And he would never want to hurt you," Kenshin swallowed hard, "again."  
  
The memory of their sorrowful goodbye flashed across her eyes like the dance of a firefly. He too remembered pulling her into his arms, praying to any god that would hear that the world would stop still and they would stay together just like that forever if only to give this unworthy one some sense of peace in his long and tired life. It pained her even now; he could see that clearly in the slight twitch at the corners of her eyes, struggling to hold the tears back.  
  
She jutted her chin against the fabric of his gi in stoic determination. "I know that too, but what are you - "  
  
"Then please," he slowly worked his fingers through her grip, and upon prying them loose, cupped both her shoulders in his palms, turning her towards him and whispered, "forgive him for this,"  
  
Gliding his trembling hands down the backs of her arms, he pulled her close to his chest, knowing full well that his eyes were deepening into thick velvet as he let them wander over her face. He finally closed them as he kissed her lips with only an ember of the fire raging wild within his heart.  
  
Drawing back, he traced her cheekbone with a finger and lifted his eyelids. "Forgive him,"  
  
Kaoru stood frozen, her own eyes closed, her hands pressed in front of her, palm to palm. He wondered if anyone could even come close to looking more angelic than she did now.  
  
"You're forgiven," Kaoru looked at him, gaze soft. "Though you did nothing wrong,"  
  
He imagined his face as it was now, held in white shock. "Sessha doesn't deserve your forgiveness de gozaru," and he didn't. She may deserve to be kissed, but he didn't deserve to enjoy it. And he had.  
  
Her brows knit in frustration, and she unexpectedly lurched forward to cling to the front of his gi. "But I deserve you!"  
  
"Oro?"  
  
After shaking her head in either disbelief or surprise at his signature sign of not understanding the situation, Kaoru looked back into his eyes, which were wide and unblinking. "Kenshin,"  
  
Circles of purple halved as he looked at her, complete and total adoration streaming through every fleck of red and blue. "Kaoru-dono,"  
  
"You're not unworthy Kenshin," She fell against him, wrapping her fists into the fabric of his gi. "You've done nothing that makes you unworthy of, unworthy of," Choking back the tears, she managed to cough out, "I said I didn't care about your past,"  
  
Eyes narrowing, he listened to her. "You welcomed Sessha home, de gozaru yo." Kenshin shot his hands out of his sleeves and brought them around her. "For that, he is eternally grateful to you,"  
  
"So come home with me as Kenshin, not Sessha," She sunk out of his embrace to kneel on the ground and whispered, "You've never been unworthy of loving to me Kenshin,"  
  
Kenshin let his eyes follow her slow descent to the path, then looked up and around at their surroundings. This was where he had said sayonara. Glancing down at Kaoru crying into her hands, he could hear the echoes of her tears calling back to him through the months. Only this time, he was here to pull her up and kiss those tears away.  
  
Her name fell from his mouth, free and independent of any qualifier that set him on a lower rung of existence. "K-Kaoru," he knelt to her level, firmly grabbing her shoulders and pulling her back up to her feet. "Onegai, do not cry,"  
  
"Kao-ru?" she sniffed behind her hand, her eyes glossed by a thin film of salt-water.  
  
"Aa, Kaoru," Kenshin kept his lips in a final, deeply serious line, "You are too good to Sessha, de gozaru."  
  
She leaned in and brushed her lips against his. She smiled as she leaned back. "If you can't be good to yourself, I'm happy to do it,"  
  
Kenshin nodded stupidly, only half-accepting her sentiment as truth. After all, only someone such as she who had never slaughtered women just as sweet looking as her could say such a thing. However, he had to agree that if his conscience could never forgive him for committing such heinous acts, it was comforting to know that someone else would. Even if it was only one person out of a country, it was still enough to keep his feet on the path of redemption.  
  
"So, Kenshin?"  
  
"Kaoru?" He tried to rein the smile pulling at his lips into submission. A weight had fallen from his shoulders to know he wasn't unworthy to this girl. And with every time he spoke her name, an act not unpleasant in itself, the burden of his guilt shifted slightly from shoulder to shoulder, allowing him to walk, not crawl through his atonement.  
  
Covering her hand over his, Kaoru loosed his grip around her shoulder and held his fingers in her palm. "Can we go home now?"  
  
"Iie,"  
  
"Nani?"  
  
He took a step closer and took her chin between his thumb and forefinger. "Happy Anniversary Kaoru," this time as he kissed her, he allowed the fire to leap high into his lips, letting them move over her own then trail back along her jaw bone. Feeling her gasp, he drew back, smiled his usual rurouni smile, and held out his hand.  
  
"Happy Anniversary Kenshin," she breathed as she took it, cautiously glancing up into his softened velvet gaze. "Happy, happy anniversary,"  
  
"It will even be happier next year de gozaru yo," he grinned as they started walking back along the path to the dojo.  
  
"And the year after that," she settled her head against his shoulder, hooking her arm about his. "As long as you don't forget it again," she giggled.  
  
"You liked your present this year didn't you?" Mischief was dancing in his eyes as they stopped on the path. "Didn't you?"  
  
"Well, I might if I really knew what it was,"  
  
His face fell. "Oro?" How could she not know? How could she not understand how hard it was for him to admit that he belittled himself in more ways than one? Unless . . .  
  
She smiled and lightly hit the back of this head with her palm. "Kenshin no baka, of course I know what it was . . . and arigatou," Upon stealing yet another quick kiss, she pulled her arm tighter about his and started walking, dragging Kenshin along in the process.  
  
Not that he minded. The skies were clear, the birds were singing, and for once he could smile out of the sheer joy of living. He would have these memories to combat the nightmares when the darkness came, and she would be there to assure him that after night falls, morning always comes.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
A/N: Boy that was fun, wasn't it? I just love writing sweet scenes. And there's more where that came from - just you wait and see! The anniversary dinner should be an absolute blast with Sano and Meg trying to keep their relationship under wraps, Ken and Kaoru being all cute (like they always are!) and Yahiko and Tsubame acting so shy. Don't ya forget about Buddha Boy and Weasel Girl! We ALL know Misao needs to do something fast, (Though maybe it's something just a wee-tad harder than dropping the suffix on his name. He should feel honored! Lord Aoshi . . . I'd love to be called Lord Starhopper . . . hey, that has a nice ring to it . . . how about in the Japanese: * ahem * Starhopper-sama . . . ooh! Even better.) So, yes, Starhopper-sama would love it if you REVIEWed, that way she knows someone is out there who likes her stuff! Actually any criticism is good - it just shows you care! 


	4. Say it with a Smile

Don't Say it With Flowers!  
  
By Starhopper  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my sketchbooks and DVDs. Everything else belongs to Nobuhiro Watsuki and many other respected businessmen who make RK available to the masses.  
  
Now what about Buddha Boy and Ninja Gal?  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
- Say it With a Smile!  
  
The hustle and bustle of the train station split and ran around the tall man, like the current of a raging river. And Aoshi, ever the immobile face of granite, planted himself in the walkway, refusing to move. Why should he? This was the vantage point, perfect for spotting his Misao-chan who would be running along in the undercurrent. It wouldn't be hard to miss her. Ever since they had received the invitation, the ninja couldn't stop bouncing from here to there, springing on the balls of her feet, the braid swinging from side to side, the two pools of cerulean blue sparkling up at him as she pleaded with him to let her go . . .  
  
And how could he say no? He could never say no to her, but she would need some chaperoning of course. Omasu and Okon were too busy tending the Aoiya, while Kuro and Shiro were out on assignment. So that left either himself or Okina, and the Grandfather wouldn't enjoy such a long train ride, with no passing young ladies to squander his time away with.  
  
Now that old man would never learn.  
  
So, being the kind hearted leader that he was, he volunteered for the mission: to shepherd Misao to the Kamiya Dojo in Tokyo, sit aside her while she celebrated this 'anniversary dinner' Battousai's woman was going on and on about, and then return her back to Kyoto with a smile on her face. If not a smile on his.  
  
A cool breeze ruffled his bangs and Aoshi welcomed the resulting shift in his thoughts; from Misao to the natural world. Closing his eyes, he slipped into meditation, mentally preparing himself for the remainder of the day. There would be children laughing, women cackling, the ever- persistent clack of the wheels on the tracks, the gentle swaying of the train cabin as the steam engine chugged across the countryside. He would be praying for his temple of repentance during that time.  
  
At least, that had been his intention, but as soon as his eyelids shut, Misao became the natural world. He imagined her breath was the wind, her voice the song of the birds as they flitted high overhead. With eyes still closed, he turned his head to the sound of her toes sliding against the pebbles on the road, or the roar of the ocean in his mind, and was met by her eyes shimmering back at him. Oh, he could finally find peace by diving into those waters, he was sure of it.  
  
He reawakened only to hold his mouth in a straight line. No way was he going to smile a smile that wasn't completely and wholly hers. And he wasn't about to pull back the corners of his lips in a broad grin if she wasn't there to see it.  
  
And he had just heard her. Shifting his weight from one foot to the other, his eyes screened the crowd for her likeness. They darted to the vendor's carts, the ticket booth, and back again to the torrent streaming around him. So where was she already? His little ninja was nowhere to be found.  
  
"Think of something else Shinomori," he whispered to himself. "And don't let it be - "  
  
"Aoshi-sama!"  
  
He bowed his head then turned on his heel to face her. "Misao-chan,"  
  
Kami-sama, it was so hard not to smile when her Genki grin was plastered on her face. She stood before him, head cocked endearingly to one side, her hands clasping a flat box in front of her.  
  
"Are you ready to go now?" he was careful not to let his tone sound too annoyed. "The train has already arrived,"  
  
"Hai!" She nodded and the braid bounced behind her, "I just had to pick up some sweets for Kaoru-chan." She blushed, "as well as something for Megumi- san,"  
  
The tint to her cheeks threatened to leap off her face and flush his. Kaoru-san had mentioned something about the annoying Rooster and that equally annoying little fox being somewhat of an item, a secret one at that.  
  
No one was supposed to know, but the boy had blabbed and all was common knowledge. Fools. Everyone close to the group at the dojo was privy to the fact that their whole affair was anything but secret, except for the couple harboring it.  
  
Suppressing a chuckle, he covered it with a cough, and took a step forward. "Good, then let's go," starting to walk against the current; he was assured that the waters would part for his person, allowing Misao to trail behind in the gap. She chattered sweetly about the weather, her chirpings mingling with the chorus of finches gathering on the roof of the station.  
  
"Is that a new coat?" her voice drifted up to him from far away.  
  
He paused in his step and caught himself before letting the surprise creep upon his seemingly cold countenance. She had noticed?  
  
Aoshi no baka, of course she had noticed. Anyone on the street who knows you notices. Misao is simply no exception to the rule. Yes, that's right, she's just a person on the street. Not someone who knows you better than you know yourself. Not someone who melts your heart every time they say your name. Not someone that you lo -  
  
Don't act like the common lovesick fool around her! Just after you chastised those barnyard enemies for playing hide and seek and now what are you doing? Counting till ten before your little weasel can find you. And she knows you so well; she'll happen upon your shadow of solitude, pounce at your slightest hesitation, leaving you completely defenseless in your weakest moment.  
  
Absently, he shoved a man out of their way to cover the time lag in his thoughts. "Yes, it's new," he threw over his shoulder, pretending not to notice her look of astonishment.  
  
But the look soon flickered to one of inert interest, "Aoshi-sama, is there something wrong with you today?" she asked with those eyes that drove him to meditate over how he could possibly cleanse himself enough to live, much less to deserve her.  
  
He sniffed, laughing off any possible implications creeping through her question. "Nothing of the sort." Shinomori you liar. Remember the game? Well tag, you're it. Really, it couldn't be farther from the truth my little weasel. Strangely enough, his refusal to embrace his feelings put an end to any other questions pressing in on her mind and they walked the rest of the way in silence. He didn't even see the dejected little ninja trailing in the wake of his trench coat, hiding behind each huge flutter of the fabric.  
  
At last they came to the train, a large fuming thing that reminded Aoshi more of a dragon than any wonder of technology. But his Misao-chan was enamored with it. She rushed right up to the edge of the platform and bent to examine it with wide-eyed interest.  
  
The smile was pressing in on him now, so that he could feel every one of the muscles around his mouth tense in anticipation. She looked just like the little girl he had trained, the little girl he had cradled against him when the lightning threatened to strike her good dreams.  
  
"Come on Aoshi-sama!" she turned and the wind caught the loose strands of her hair in its fingers, twirling them about her face. For a brief second, she gave into the caress and closed her eyes, her chest rising as she breathed in the scent of the flowers riding the air, giving herself over to the tender touch of nature. He felt himself inhale simultaneously, hoping to experience whatever sense of calm she received as the wind whipped around her. It was so easy for her, how he wished he could get that peace of mind by just standing in the breeze, letting the world enfold him in its embrace. Closing his eyes as she opened hers, he tried to let himself go as she did, to let the air carry away the massive weight on his shoulders.  
  
Misao recovered faster than he did. Pinned on her left toe, she spun with the grace of a ballerina and ran over to him. She stopped, almost falling over her own feet when she found him frozen in place, watching the train seething steam. "Aoshi-sama, you all right?"  
  
With a start he looked down at her and nodded wordlessly. Feeling the pallor of straight terror stretching itself over his features, Aoshi put a palm to his forehead and massaged the peak at his hairline with a pointer and thumb. He was a man, twenty-seven years old, and a well-respected leader of one of the greatest ninja bands in all of western Japan. He should be able to cover his tracks well enough, but for some strange reason, this girl was and would always be able to dust the sand he had kicked over his footprints away. Considering his current mental state, he was beginning to forget to walk in the steps of others, hiding his trail from his pursuer. Had he made sure to curb his enthusiasm in front of Okina at the very idea of escorting Misao to Tokyo? Was he forcing his voice to remain calm, instead of letting it come naturally monotonous, when she asked him a question? Questions second-guessing how he continued to hold himself in her presence flooded through his mind.  
  
Even if he couldn't be sure of his ability to keep this secret, one thing was for sure: if he wasn't careful, this was going to be one catastrophic journey.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Yet another green hill flew past their cabin at the speed of light and Aoshi blew a disinterested stream of air between his teeth. How could anyone enjoy seeing the country like this? Wiggling his toes, he reminded himself of how wonderful it was to walk, to wander in the nature that now buzzed by him like an insect. He wanted to swat it away. 'Please, go bug someone else with your artificiality,' he thought to himself, 'I'm not in the mood.'  
  
A flicker of black with emerald highlights played at his peripheral vision as Misao glanced over at him from the window seat. "Isn't it beautiful, Aoshi-sama?"  
  
He brightened, pulling himself up from a slouch into an alert position. Yes, now this was a much better view than the blur of Japan's rice patties.  
  
"Yes Misao," he eyed her coolly from beneath his bangs. The reflection of the passing countryside reflected in her eyes, those smiling happy eyes that always shined up at him. Staring at the phenomenon, he felt the seat he was perched on slide about beneath him, the train taking a turn north. Before his cat-like reflexes could claw him back into place, he had slid across the bench to tower over her, the happy eyes now wide in apprehension as he whispered, "Very beautiful."  
  
She looked up at him, body still twisted over her torso to ask him about the view. "Nani?"  
  
With his arms splayed out at the sides in a desperate attempt to keep him from crushing her, Aoshi was frozen. And try as he might to unlock his elbows, the more he struggled, the closer he was pressed to her. Panic flashed across his eyes briefly before he twisted his left shoulder forward, his chin brushing along the feathers of her bangs, and wrenched himself free of the compromising position.  
  
"Aoshi-sama, what just happened?"  
  
"I slid." Never mind the fact that his head was spinning, his skin slightly burning with the remembrance of her hair tickling it, the heat that had been squeezed out between them still draped about his chest and neck like a comforting old blanket. Never mind that deep longing to go back in time and seize her in his arms, pull her closer until the heat engulfed both of them and they were swallowed by flames.  
  
Yes, Shinomori. Never mind all of that.  
  
"Oh, alright," she turned back to the window and set her sights on the passing farmlands. But this time he heard the dejected tone she cradled so thoughtfully against her apathy.  
  
He looked down at his hands and fisted them in his lap. "I'm sorry,"  
  
'If I couldn't help but to not stop myself from colliding into you. If I can't tell you that I lo-'  
  
From around her back that was turned to him, she sighed. "I told you, it's alright."  
  
But it's not right, Misao. It's not right that you don't feel loved even though you are. And not just by an elder brother who raised you to be a fighter, but by a man who told you that the Oniwaban must be brave and he can't even follow his own advice.  
  
His eyes traced the motions of her bored fingertips as she drew out something on the glass. And look now she's uncomfortable and it's all your fault . . . once again.  
  
"Misao, I-"  
  
"I said I'm fine, Aoshi-sama," she paused as if mulling over the past events and how he had just apologized for something completely out of his control. Turning on her side, she set a lowered blue eye on him over her shoulder and smiled. "But thanks,"  
  
Aoshi suddenly realized that since discommoding himself, he hadn't moved away from her seat. He was so close that he -  
  
CATASTROPHE! The little alarm went off in his head as his mind seriously drifted off into wild daydreams involving himself and the little ninja steaming up their corner booth.  
  
Aoshi shook his head, clearing his mind of all thoughts having to do with fire and burning over Misao. Nope. Nadda. Not gonna happen. Not in a million years would he ever overcome his cowardice. He could become the Okashira at the age of fifteen, defend Edo Castle from the fires of the Revolution, and attempt to kill the craziest man in the world, but for the life of him, he couldn't express his feelings. Coward, coward, coward. And you berate the Chicken-head for hiding his feelings for so long? Or the Battousai, who continues to live with the woman of his dreams, but fears for her safety? Are your doubts really so well unfounded?  
  
But with Misao, she always knows your feelings. Maybe you don't need to show them then, she would just . . . know. Is it really that easy?  
  
Easy or not, it would be difficult, a new adjustment. His knees began to shake as he sat there, so close to her. "Misao?"  
  
Having cooled off from her personal rebuke, Misao turned around fully to face him. "Yes?"  
  
"I -"  
  
Dammit Shinomori! Just say it. You may think she knows you better than you know yourself, but you know her just as well, if not better. You remember what makes her smile, (you) and what makes her frown, (you). You remember every time she had a nightmare and came running into your bed, seeking salvation from the bad dreams. You remember that night you left, and you like to think you don't remember her leaning out the window, crying out your name as you marched off to achieve certain glory for the Oniwabanshu. You know how she loves to stand in the wind and feel the fabric flutter against her legs and you know the way the sun shines upon her hair, making her glow from head to toe. And you know how she revels in the power she receives from nature. You know the world around her sings when she leaps through it, and you know that your heart beats when she smiles at you. So just give it all back to her, how well you understand her and what makes her cry a hundred-fold and it will be easy, just wait and see.  
  
Reaching for her hand, he found it, and pulled it down to fill the space on the bench between them. Then, feeling the muscles tugging at the corners of his mouth, he gave into their pulling, relentless in their effort to chisel away his rocky exterior and break him away to the true being he was.  
  
He smiled.  
  
And not only did he smile, he said her name. It wasn't just 'Misao'. The two syllables that slipped past the curve of his lips were ground deep in longing, accompanied shortly after by his thumb stroking the skin between her forefinger and thumb. Turning over their clasped hands, he brought them up to his smile and softly pressed the back of her hand to his mouth, barely even touching his lips to her skin. It was so soft, smoothed by the oil rub she applied every night. The one that made him know that she had danced through the house even after she had long departed.  
  
"Aoshi," she breathed at the intimate display as he set their hands back down on her lap, her brilliant blue eyes following the path of her hand wrapped in his like a child amazed at a magic trick.  
  
But did the trick ever overwhelm the magician at the same time?  
  
"I'm sorry for the first half of this year," he squeezed her hand. "But I am hoping that I can make it up to you with the second half."  
  
"H-Hai," She smiled, the look on her face screaming uncertainty and disbelief. "Do anything you wish, I trust you."  
  
She trusted him after all he had done to her. After all the pain he had caused, and she had not drawn her hand away when he had grasped it. And now she said 'anything'. Trust came first, nothing could possibly break that trust.  
  
No matter how much he wanted to test its boundaries.  
  
With a tug on her hand, he brought her close enough to rest her head on his chest. She was so fragile, as delicate as a feather. Bringing up a hand to clasp her shoulder gently he breathed a sigh of relief. He was worried that if he moved any faster, he would create a sudden gust that would sweep her out of his arms and out the window.  
  
He swallowed. "I'm not really sure how this will work," as close as he had gotten to her, he was determined to control his voice. There was no wavering or emotion. His admittance was as smooth and icy as ever. "But if you're willing to trust me as you already do and try,"  
  
"Try?" She practically leapt out of his tentative embrace to set her wide ocean set eyes on him. She frightened him with that look complete with pursed lips and a cautious glare. Then she broke his brief moment of sweating panic with a smile of her own. Coyly, she drew their hands up to her cheek and grinned even wider. "Do you even need to ask?"  
  
"It's all a gentleman can do," he blinked back, smiling freely now for her. "It's all that," he gulped again, the full effect of his cowardice struggling to color his cheeks, "I can do,"  
  
"Oh, Aoshi-sama," she fell back over his chest, the hand wrapped about her fingers pressing dangerously close against her breast. "I just wanted to find you, and instead I found your smile,"  
  
Pulling his free arm about her shoulders, he hugged her to him. "You've always had it, Misao-chan," Dropping his cheek down onto her hair, he whispered, "You've always understood me,"  
  
"I feel the same way," she mumbled blissfully into the fabric of his shirt.  
  
He started to rub her shoulder in thought, "You never gave up on me," he stopped with a frown. Even after he had abandoned her, even after he had told her, straight to her face, 'I never want to see you again, leave'. And even after he had taken to seclusion in the temple, even then she had not given up hope that someday her Aoshi-sama would return to the land of the living breathing human being who realizes he was wrong and strives to make up for it. Yes, she and she alone believed in him, believed that he would someday recover and be her protector and mentor once more.  
  
"I couldn't. I love you." She drew herself up within the confines of his embrace to look him eye-to-eye, or as close as that would allow given their obvious height difference. "I still love you Aoshi, don't you know that?"  
  
'What a coincidence, I love you too'. That's what he should say, instead of letting himself be held in the hands of panic/shock/distress/oblivious exultation. "Do you really?"  
  
She must have interpreted his obvious trepidation for she shook her head and ground her teeth. "How could you not know? Yes, this little sister of yours has adored you for many years, but now she loves you, has truly loved you since the moment you held her has a baby." She gripped his arm, the very arm that had shielded her from the cold as an infant. "She loves you, and you don't know it."  
  
"I do know it," the train swerved again, lurching to the right, curving not only itself about the ocean, as well as a very nervous former Okashira about his own. When the motion had settled, he was kneeling on the floor, the rest of his body arching over hers, supported by the two arms that shook violently under the pressure of the moment. Aoshi stared into those blue eyes of hers, those endless depths that he longed to dive within and come out purified. "And I return your feelings a hundred-fold," Slowly, he leaned his head forward to hers, kissing her softly before drawing back, a wide smile on his face.  
  
" . . . " For the first time in her life, Misao was speechless, and Aoshi somewhat gloried inwardly over that fact. But she soon recovered, "So now what?" she bit her lip endearingly.  
  
He leaned back on his heels, and casting his eyes off to the side, set his face to the familiar hard granite as he pondered. "Well," he started casually, staving off the emotion. Just wait a bit longer. "I think I should kiss you a little more, then hold you until the train stops." His eyes flicked over to hers and he pulled his lips back over his teeth, flashing her a brilliant smile as he moved to sit back on the bench. Dropping the monotone, he pulled her into his lap, "Is that alright with you?"  
  
It was quite alright, as he knew it would be.  
  
And all it took was a smile.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
A/N: YAY! Hope that satisfied all the hopes and whims of all you fans out there! (30 reviews, I'm so happy for DSIWF! Boy, this was a hard story to write . . . I constantly struggled to make this different from 'Tears of Buddha', and it turned out a little different, not quite the stretch I wanted, but I started fairly realistically in 'Tears' that it would be hard to change him for any other story I write . . . actually, he turned out just a little looser, at least that's what I think. -_- zzz sleepy. Anyway, now onto the Dinner, which I hope to have soon. I have so many ideas, now that all the couples are cute together, kissy kissy and all. The girls are gonna visit that fountain they visited in ep "To My Angel Misao" to thank the god of that fountain. Kaoru's feelings crossed to Kenshin, Misao saw Aoshi smile, and Megumi will throw herself down at its feet to thank Kami-sama that Sano finally got a brain. It wasn't impossible afterall. And don't you worry, blackmail will abound, thanks to Yahiko and a nervous Sanosuke . . . I'm so evil. So now while I go and work on reading for English, you go off and REVIEW if ya like! A REVIEW is always appreciated! ^_^ 


	5. Celebrate: Morning

Don't Say it With Flowers!  
  
By Starhopper  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my sketchbooks and DVDs. Everything else belongs to Nobuhiro Watsuki and many other respected businessmen who make RK available to the masses.  
  
Well, I decided to do the whole celebration in installments.Anyone Hungry? How about pressed chicken against the wall?  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
- Say it With a Celebration! Part One: Early Morning  
  
Megumi smiled in her sleep, grasping at the bandaged right hand held over her heart. It was too early to get up. The futon was just too soft, the body curled around from behind too warm, her true period of sleep too short. But she could feel the dreamy fog of exhaustion begin to dissipate with the playful squeeze Sanosuke gave her breast along with her own awakening to their little universe of blankets, morning, and comfort wrapped snuggly about her.  
  
She couldn't possibly get up today, not with his arms so tight around her, his sleepy breath softly tickling the back of her neck. But the sunlight filtering into the room between his hanging gi and the window frame was so damnably persistent. As if to prove that point, a particularly obnoxious sunbeam fell over her eyes, threatening to pry open her twitching lids.  
  
"Ngh . . ." the grating in Sano's throat was enough to lull her back to sleep, daylight or no. "Don't want to get up, do ya Fox?" he asked, propping his head on her shoulder, letting his hands trace along her curves from wherever they had rested during the night to cross under her chest.  
  
Raising her head off of her hand, she glanced up at him from the side, and with her free hand, reached up to hold his face in her palm and shove him back and away from her. "Of all the people; I would never have thought that you were a morning person," she grumbled, caving her shoulders in and sinking her head low between them. "Sleep is good,"  
  
"Being awake is better," Sano yawned, as the hold around her torso loosened and he rolled onto his back. She could just imagine that hentai grin plastered onto his face as he said it, making her eyes pop open in annoyance.  
  
"Shhh, I'm exhausted,"  
  
"You say the same thing every morning," the ex-gangster continued, nudging her with his elbows as he drew his hands behind his head. He paused and in that pause she prayed to Kami-sama that he wouldn't go into his adolescent gloating. Usually the three years difference between them didn't bother her. On the contrary, it was nice to have a some-what younger man who didn't . . . tire easily. She applauded his youth and vitality, and when times called for it, strength. However, when she was reliving those aspects held dear to her heart in the blissful paradise of her dreams, he could easily rub out all his good attributes with the plethora of annoying ones. Please Sanosuke, not this morning. Not when he had redeemed himself so fully after their argument the prior evening. She had started to walk away, bathed in the glory of having the last word, but then he had grabbed her wrist, and yanking her back to his chest and sliding his eternally bruised and bandaged hands up into her hair, had coaxed her into a forgiving kiss.  
  
"Congrats Fox," he had whispered before his mouth covered hers, "You won,"  
  
They had broken apart only after sinking to the floor, Sanosuke's hands were still holding tight onto the hair at the base of her skull as he trailed kisses down her neck and hitting the collarbone, retraced the path back up to her face. Intermingling apologies with her heated name, he had eased her down onto the futon and let their natural chemistry brew an explosive night for the two lovers.  
  
And now here was the same man whose name she had moaned in ecstasy at least a hundred times, trying to dash all those tender perceptions and exultations to bits with his over-sized ego.  
  
Just once, let those memories pervade Roosterhead . . .  
  
"I guess I'm just that good," he nudged her again for emphasis and she drew farther within herself, making ready for the spring.  
  
"No, the night is just that short," her knees were pressed to her chest now. In this early morning stupor, she believed that if she could pull her body away from his, he would actually notice that she needed her beauty rest and would stop talking, touching, or doing anything to her. Though her memory was just a little too eager to remind her how wonderful anyone of those options could be.  
  
He made a noise of offense, somewhere between a scoff and a snort, then launching into a graphic account of their beautiful night together, ended with a very cocky, "You call that a short night?"  
  
Sighing, she uncoiled herself and rolled over on her back. There was no way he was going to let her sleep, now that he was wide-awake and cracking jokes. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Pitching her voice in a whine that she knew would make his blood boil with desire, she coyly turned her head to him and said, "I know a way to get you sleepy."  
  
He grinned smugly, "Gee, let me guess,"  
  
"No, you have to close your eyes,"  
  
Smart boy that he was, he did as he was told, but never stopped smiling. Drawing closer to him, she could feel the heat and smell the sweat now cooled to a dull luster of what the intoxicating musk had been. But it held no less an appeal for a woman who craved to be wrapped in those strong arms of his, immersed in the warmth that only lovers of the truest sort know as the heat of the sun.  
  
For a brief moment, Megumi entertained the notion of throwing herself over him and submitting to the pesky thoughts burning through acres of mental underbrush, but with a resolute nod, all those thoughts were pushed to the side, never doused, just covered up for later. After she taught him not to wake her up this early anymore that was.  
  
"Tori-atama," she plucked at the syllables as if she was playing a lyre, a mere slave girl sitting at her master's feet. A soft caress along the length of his chest with a sweep of her hand added to the subordinate effect. Pulling her lips back in a rueful smile, she settled herself on his side. With a cautious glance up to make sure his eyes were still closed, she placed a tender kiss to his shoulder and snuggled close.  
  
"I'm not sleepy yet," Sano ground the words out teasingly, enunciating each word painfully slow, his teeth sparkling as the rays of sun shot out across the room unhindered by a fox's silhouette as she slept on her side, disinterested in the beginnings of the day.  
  
Giggling, she drew another line down his chest with a fingertip, letting it drop off to where the sheet came up to his navel. "Don't worry Sano, you soon will be,"  
  
"Oi, don't make it too short Kitsune, I want to be able to enjoy it,"  
  
"Oh," she forced the moan out mockingly, "I promise you, you'll enjoy it," adding to that promise, she brushed her bare legs against his as she drew them up to her chest again. Now to just get the angle right . . .  
  
Leaning away from the familiar feel of his skin, she positioned herself so that the fetal form of her body was tilted towards the pillow and whispered, "Ready?" in the most throaty, erotic voice she could muster with her lungs being crushed by the pressure of her knees.  
  
"I'm always ready," turning his head to face her with lids still pressed closed, he continued, "especially for you Megumi,"  
  
The sincerity dripping from his admission almost made her pause in the execution of her brilliant plan.  
  
Almost.  
  
But the thought of sleep and the perfect target his face made pushed her to press on, though somewhat reluctantly. "Okay then," Releasing her legs like a coil, her heels met his chin in a brilliant explosion of sheets, futon, and an twenty-year old male scraping against the floor as he flew backwards several feet.  
  
Pulling herself up from her curled position, Megumi peered over at the twitching mass of Sagara Sanosuke pressed against the far wall, and with her roving doctor's eye concluded that he was suitably unconscious, allowing her to get about three more hours of sleep, four if she hadn't been drained of all her energy at the time. Damn him and his persuasive stamina.  
  
But for now, she flopped back down on the futon, pulling what was left of the blankets around her, and sinking her head into the pillow, letting a groan of satisfaction rumble from her throat. Sano should know by now that he should always let this sleeping Fox lie.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Aw, poor Sano.I hated to do that to him, I really did.  
  
But I did it anyway. ^_^  
  
Ah well, he's broken his hand countless times, and been hit in the head with a fist or two, so I think with a little TLC from a certain foxy doctor, (that is, after she sleeps in a little) a little slam into the wall can be shaken off just as easily as his gi. *starts to drool*  
  
*cough* Yes, anyway, please review if you so desire, I would love to know what people thought of my attempt at comedy, and then time travel to noon and the Kamiya Dojo where a certain Kamiya Kasshin Master is learning the fine art of - well that's for me to know and you to click the button and find out! 


	6. Celebrate: Midday

Don't Say it With Flowers!  
  
By Starhopper  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my sketchbooks and DVDs. Everything else belongs to Nobuhiro Watsuki and many other respected businessmen who make RK available to the masses.  
  
Well, I decided to do the whole celebration in installments.Anyone Hungry? For some onigiri made KK style?  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
- Say it With a Celebration! Part Two: Mid-Day  
  
Kaoru groaned and padded a palm to her sweaty brow. It had been hours since they had begun, and it seemed like the heat building between them was going to swallow them whole. Was this natural? Did the Rurouni really know what he was doing with her?  
  
But Kenshin was careful not to overstep his bounds, sweet polite gentleman that he was. She was young and inexperienced; he was quite aware that she would make mistakes from time to time.  
  
"No Kaoru, not there," she relished the tingle of contact as his skin brushed against hers for the umpteenth time. He didn't have to be so shy, guiding her like this. Didn't he know that she wanted to learn as much as he wanted to teach? If only he would just let her go, and she could let her hands wander free, testing, discovering.  
  
"Is that better?" she sighed as his head brushed against her neck in a nod.  
  
"Does it feel right to you Kaoru?" he whispered huskily in her ear.  
  
She savored the way her name lapped off his tongue with a satisfied shiver. Grinning evilly, she pulled a hand up to catch his chin between her fingers and pull him in for a kiss. It felt so good to feel him move under her touch, reined in by the want rushing to the surface as his mouth hovered over hers, breathing warm, honey-sweet air into her parted lips.  
  
'If only we could stay like this forever . . .' Kaoru thought as she lost herself in the anticipation of the kiss, her hands, speckled with rice and soybeans as they were, fluttering up to caress his soft hair, cradle his head between her arms and shoulders as she leaned into his chest. 'So perfect, so sweet, so,'  
  
The sound of a shoji sliding open and slamming closed brought the Kamiya Kasshin master out of her reverie. The sight of a young boy standing in the kitchen doorway brought the Kamiya Kasshin master into reality. Yahiko Myojin referring to her as 'Ugly' brought the Kamiya Kasshin master into insanity.  
  
Arms still draped around the sides of the rurouni's head, Kaoru screamed. "YAHIKO!" and immediately felt her boyfriend's eardrums burst as he fell off the bench behind her, holding his ears and crying "orororo,"  
  
"Kenshin!" she whirled back to find him twitching on the floor, his beautiful eyes swirling in their sockets. Falling to the floor herself, she picked up his head and set it in her lap, lightly running her fingers through his bangs, pushing them away to see his eyes snap back into their normal wide purple. But he put on the unconscious act to feel her attend to him so and he sent her a secretive wink to let her know that stalling would be a very good thing.  
  
Kaoru bent her head slightly in understanding, and looked over to her adopted little brother. "You," she growled.  
  
"Oi, before you get all defensive on me Tanuki," Yahiko held up his hands in a very Sanosuke-like way, making him appear completely innocent of whatever he was accused of, "I just came back for my shinai, that's all . . . it's not like I really wanted to walk in on anything or anything," he stuttered with a tint of red on his cheeks.  
  
Kaoru tucked her pleased smile into the corners of her cheeks. So, he needed his shinai. But for what exactly? Of course she knew, but with the blushing boy already embarrassed, why not pounce on his weakness?  
  
"Practicing for Tsubame-chan again?" she glanced down quickly to find Kenshin trying to stifle his laughter. Tugging at his bangs playfully, she silenced him, as if saying, 'Shh, you're supposed to be knocked out, remember?'  
  
Now the redness on Yahiko's cheeks spread like wildfire down his neck, running rampant along his arms to finally peep out beneath the long sleeves of his gi. "I - well,"  
  
Kenshin half lunged, half struggled to his feet, casting reproving eyes on the young samurai, lecturing him in a fatherly tone, "Yahiko-chan, it would be a very good idea to knock first next time, de gozaru."  
  
The change in subject visibly vexed the boy, surprised by his idol's response. Especially at the "chan" part; Kaoru just had to love Kenshin for his sense of humor. First her own mentioning of the little girl from the Akabeko, and now the reminder of how he was still little, even in the presence of the red-haired Rurouni who now seemed to loom tall above him in irritation.  
  
But Kenshin's features melted to forgiveness as that smile spread across his mouth and his eyes closed to self-contented slits. "Apologize to Kaoru de gozaru."  
  
"Kenshin, onegai," Yahiko practically begged the man, looking up at the swordsman, over to the girl kneeling on the floor, then back up to Kenshin again. "Do I have to?"  
  
Kenshin's smile never wavered. "It's the right thing to do de gozaru yo."  
  
"But,"  
  
"Sessha is losing patience," Kenshin kept grinning, unnerving Kaoru's student even more. "De gozaru,"  
  
"FINE! Gomen Bu - Kaoru." With that Yahiko turned on his heel, and upon noticing his wooden sword so casually leaning against the table, bent down to retrieve it. Without another word, he slung the shinai over his back and practically marched out of the kitchen, trying to maintain his dignity as best he could even while hearing the muffled laughter of the two adults spill out of the kitchen.  
  
Wheeling on his heels, Kenshin laughed heartily at the moment, landed on the bench with a heavy thunk, then held out his hand to help her off the ground.  
  
"Arigatou," Kaoru hiccupped, as she grasped his palm firmly while at the same time trying to choke back the insane giggles that were bubbling up in her throat. "I thought he'd never leave,"  
  
"Sessha believed this as well," Kenshin's voice dropped low as he yanked his arm back, pulling Kaoru closer to his seated form, his hand immediately dropping hers to wrap around her waist. The happy slits of happiness were now half-lidded with a hesitant desire. "Now he can-"  
  
But the thought was stopped when she pressed a finger to his lips, her eyes also working to silence that sudden want that tensed the muscles in his arms, threatening to pull her even closer. However, instead of accepting the finger as sign to be quiet, the Rurouni gently pursed his lips to it, pouting in a strangely bold way. Shaking her head, she grabbed at one of his hands and using the freedom of her hip to her advantage, gracefully twirled out of his embrace.  
  
"Ah, ah, ah" she taunted while wagging the same finger that not more than two seconds ago had been caressed by his lips, even as his eyes grew round with that familiar violet mischief. But she easily spun out of his attempt to hold her, which then turned into light-speed attempts to catch her. "We have to finish making the appetizers Kenshin,"  
  
The ex-hitokiri paused in mid-lunge, and she could see him let the prospect of cooking befuddle his thoughts of playing with the Kamiya Kasshin Master a little longer. "Oro," he groaned, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "We need a break de gozaru," the eyes that had settled on her feet trailed up and over her form to lock with her brilliantly sparkling blue pools of the soul. She could almost feel him dive into their gaze, pushing at each stroke to get into her mind.  
  
Flustered, she severed their connection by dropping her eyelids. "I agree, but if we take a break now, we'll just be that more rushed in the end," Kaoru finished her statement with a nod, assured that she was right. Though the feel of lips pleadingly pursing against her fingertip reminded her of how long she had wanted him to act on his emotions. And with Yahiko's interruption, she'd be calling herself a hypocrite if she told herself she wanted him to stop now.  
  
She prayed that he couldn't see the blush creeping over her cheeks as she softly stroked the aforementioned fingertip with her thumb.  
  
Suddenly she felt his arms slide around her, his breath coming fast and hot into her ear with a passionate "Kaoru," and she felt herself succumb to an equally passionate kiss.  
  
'It's official,' Kaoru thought wryly as Kenshin's hands traveled up the back of her spine, tickled her neck, and finally found themselves in the bow holding up her ponytail at the top of her head. The indigo ribbon was on the kitchen floor before she could blink. Damn his speed; she had double-knotted that bow and braided the ends into the ribbon to fit the shape of a flower. 'I've created a monster,'  
  
Catching hold of his ponytail, she gave a playful tug. "Kenshin," she taunted reproachfully, looking him in the eye.  
  
He reeled slightly, one of his hands leaving her waist to reach behind him and investigate the offending pull. But no sooner had he done so, and no sooner had she counted on him fulfilling her wishes to get back to work, she felt fingers snatch her palm from her grip on his hair, and he grinned that rurouni-I'm-too-innocent-grin as he ducked his head between their arms and spun her around so as not to snap her wrist.  
  
As she came to a rest with her back pressed close to his chest, Kaoru allowed herself a deep breath. Okay, so maybe this was nice. As he nuzzled her neck with his scarred cheek, 'nice' escalated to meltingly wonderful. And as his lips found her ear and whispered "Ashiteru," 'wonderful' leaped into the realm of 'erotically profound'.  
  
She felt herself turned around and become lost in those eyes of his. Those eyes that could scream to the world how he felt without so much as a bat of an eyelash. "Gomen nasai, Kaoru," but those were his words rumbling rich from his throat. Plucking a clump of rice from his bangs, he grinned and winked at her, "Demo, you started it de gozaru yo."  
  
Before she could protest, Kaoru found her feet sliding out along the ground. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she held on to him as he dipped her low. Swallowing, she looked up into his deadly serious eyes, their color a hard lilac that was rapidly paling into amber and barely heard him growl, "And Sessha intends to finish it, de gozaru."  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
I'm starting to find the appeal in Battousai, *hentai grin*.he's just so.  
  
*Shakes herself out of the spell of the assassin*  
  
Ahem, anyway, this humble frog would appreciate any reviews you'd like to give her or CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. Then she'd love it even more if you want to go on to the delicious recipe of Aoshi and Misao for the next installment of DSIWF, if she's posted it yet.damn college. -_- zzzz (That would be me half asleep because of 3 hours of sleep last night) 


	7. Celebrate: Afternoon

Don't Say it With Flowers!  
  
By Starhopper  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my sketchbooks and DVDs. Everything else belongs to Nobuhiro Watsuki and many other respected businessmen who make RK available to the masses.  
  
Well, I decided to do the whole celebration in installments.Anyone Hungry? Not even for some mouthwateringly sweet, whipped fluffy Aoshi and Misao cream?  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
- Say it With a Celebration! Part Three: Afternoon  
  
Misao just couldn't stop smiling.  
  
She didn't care that the size of the grin took up half of her face. She barely noticed anything that didn't begin with 'A' was bridged by 'osh' and ended in 'i'. She ignored the whispers of surprised travelers as they walked off the platform, her head tucked against his shoulder and legs swinging freely over his arms.  
  
No, she didn't care that they were breaking the codes of public display of affection. After all, she had taken a nasty tumble down the stairs of their passenger car . . . even if it was for the purpose of feeling his arms around her again. As soon as he had settled himself back on the bench from his compromising position from the floor, he had pulled her into his lap and snuggling back into the corner between the window and the train seat, smiled a broad, content smile.  
  
One that she freely kissed away when the look in his eyes touched hers and sent shivers down her spine. Not because of the icicles hanging from it, but from its sensual warmth that rose the hair at the back of her neck. His ice blue eyes had melted to a decadent sky blue that put her in mind that she was lying on her back and watching the ceiling of the world roll above her. The look was one of relief, and incredible longing. After some moments of shared shy nervousness, she had reached up and caught his chin with her fingers, and smiling her typical genki smile, guided his head down to meet hers. The granite truly was gone, nothing but soft flesh remained to kiss her back. She remembered dozing off to the sound of his voice after breaking away from his passionate return, the continual stroking of his thumb against her neck having soothed the beating of her heart. He had been talking about the future; their future to be more delightfully precise.  
  
Turning her head up to glance at him, she knew he didn't want her to pull her lips down from their natural upwards curve anytime soon.  
  
He had after all, told her he loved her smile. Especially when it was for him.  
  
And this was all for him.  
  
Didn't he know that it had never been for anyone else?  
  
Misao was so lost in her delirium that she almost missed the frantic waves of a tall, fox-like woman dressed in her purple working smock, standing just far enough away from the station platform to draw attention to herself.  
  
"Misao-chan!"  
  
With a dazed look on her face, Misao swung her head over to the place where Megumi stood and lazily drew a hand away from Aoshi's soft hair to wave back with an even lazier smile and slurred speech pattern, "Konnichiwa Megumi-chan!" Even a twenty-three year old doctor was going to be called "chan" today in this current move of optimism, Misao thought to herself with a mental nod.  
  
Misao noticed the wave of shock wash over the doctor as Aoshi edged his way out of the current of passengers and embracing friends to stand in front of Megumi with a deliriously happy ninja girl supported firmly in his embrace.  
  
After some moments of silence, Megumi recovered enough to manage a bow. But she was still too shocked for words . . . her jaw was moving, but her mouth was completely shut.  
  
"Misao," the soothing masculine voice interrupted the silence, if that was even possible, "Can I set you down now?"  
  
The gaping Megumi forgotten, Misao turned her attention to the soft gaze he was bathing her in, and nodded reluctantly. As he set her back on the ground, the doctor finally snapped to.  
  
"Well," she fanned herself with a paw as Aoshi's hands lingered just a little too long on Misao's slender waist. "I can see I'm not the only one who's getting som-"  
  
Misao flushed bright red, missing the dark flash in Aoshi's eyes towards the chortling fox as she fought with her hands to clasp or stay clung to the sides of her boyfriend's trench coat. Damn her height - or lack thereof.  
  
As the ninja observed how Megumi backed away slightly at the shift of warning in her former guard's eyes, the doctor nodded in acknowledgement of her mistake and added, "Nice to see you too Shinomori-san, Gomen,"  
  
Replying in his usual monotone, Aoshi's disapproving frown broke into a small smile and polite nod, "Likewise, Megumi-san."  
  
Another second passed and Megumi was smiling broadly at his subtle apology, taking an assured step closer, and bowing once again. "Gomen for the confusion, demo Ken-san and Kaoru-"  
  
"We heard," Misao waved her explanation off, "It seems Himura finally realized his feelings,"  
  
"Actually it was Kaoru, surprisingly," The last word was mumbled under the doctor's breath in disbelief, "I don't know exactly what happened, but she told him how she felt and he took that as a sign," Megumi stopped her rambling with a blush, as if anticipating the next question. "It was bound to happen sometime,"  
  
"And what about you?" Misao grinned knowingly, unwilling to swerve the conversation so easily from its directed path. Drawing from one of Aoshi's pockets the package she had brought with her from Kyoto, she urged her to go on as it she presented it to Megumi.  
  
A hand fluttered to the woman's throat, while the other tucked the package closely against her side, "Me? I'm fine,"  
  
"More than fine, as can be expected,"  
  
Megumi blinked at the tall stoic figure standing patiently alongside his ninja. Misao nodded, yes she had indeed heard her Aoshi-sa, her Aoshi correctly. He was no longer a mouthless piece of rock.  
  
Megumi shook her head, throwing the blush that had lit her cheeks on brilliant fire far into the stream of passerby. "But Sanosuke on the other hand," they could see her eyes sparkle beneath the bangs at the mere articulation of his name on her lips, the fox ears appearing at the sides of her head as she chuckled in that distinctly Megumi way.  
  
Exchanging looks and respective sweatdrops, the two ninja shared a smile and as Misao took a step forward without a grimace of pain on the foot whose ankle she had supposedly twisted, Aoshi burst out laughing.  
  
" . . . "  
  
"I knew it," she barely heard him whisper before she turned her head to see the look of mirth wiped clean from his face and replaced with his now normal features held at the ready to convey his emotions to her at the slightest notice. But she shrugged off the feeling that he was plotting and laughing behind her back as Megumi's ears faded and the sudden "Oh, ho ho hos" came to an abrupt end.  
  
"Completely clueless that we all know?" Misao mused as they began to walk in the direction of the Kamiya Dojo.  
  
"Well," Megumi paused, bouncing in place on the balls of her feet, "Yeah, but in the name of revenge, I'm refusing to tell him that our secret affair isn't quite so secret as he thinks."  
  
"We know that too,"  
  
With an irritated snort at Kaoru, no doubt for blabbing the doctor's personal life in her invitation, Megumi stopped with hands at her hips and demanded, "What don't you guys know then?"  
  
Aoshi, who had watched the conversation with his Okashiran eye, suddenly spoke up with a "We don't know when your little revelation occurred," Speeding up his pace, he came beside Misao and walking a stately gait, managed to slow the teenager down.  
  
"It's okay Megumi-san," Misao conceded with a sigh as she was pressed against his side, their pace falling into sync as his hand came to rest softly at the curve of her neck. "Don't tell us if you're just going to stand back there and blush," And apparently the insanity had worn off, but with renewed bodily contact, who knew what terms of endearment she was going to use next?  
  
But wait, had she really said "us"? It was going to take some time for her to digest that 'us' meant 'them', and 'them' meant Aoshi and herself in the intimate sense . . .  
  
Her own cheeks on fire and a tingle sparking at the base of her spine, Misao quickened their pace, intentionally to outrun him, but he stepped up his pace with hers.  
  
Over the heated protests of a woman blatantly in love, including "I am not a lady who blushes easily, or a little girl who giggles like a moron when she talks to the boy down the street," Misao was more than amused when the woman slowly trailing behind them started to giggle insanely. Turning around with Aoshi's hand moving down to palm the point squarely between her shoulder blades, Misao and her boyfriend were less than surprised to find Megumi talking to none other than Sagara Sanosuke, looking every bit as scruffy as the first day Misao had met him while he was out cold and being patched up by the woman who was now practically collapsing into fits of laughter at his flat feet.  
  
"Oi, Shinomori, Itachi!"  
  
From her sedated slouch against his side, Misao turned to an infuriated pounce in the chicken-head's direction. "Ooh, if you call me Itachi one more time!" her leap was blocked by the figure of her protector, pushing her back to stand behind him. "Aoshi-sama!" Peeking around him, she saw the reason he had stopped the attack. It was some policy number in the Oniwabanshu code of ethics that she could never remember -  
  
Never attack an injured man.  
  
Sanosuke stood in front of them, the left lower corner of his face, from the side of his jaw to his cheekbone was one giant bruise, blackened at the center to slowly fade out into shades of green and blue.  
  
"Quit yer starin," Sano growled in warning, tossing a quick menacing gaze over to his fox who just laughed all the harder. "Oi, Kitsune, stop that," he set his eyes back on the couple standing in the road before him, eyes wide in shock. "THAT GOES FOR YOU TOO!"  
  
Both Misao and Aoshi were leaning together to keep from falling, tears streaming down their faces. "Demo, it's so - "  
  
"Painful? Degrading? Humiliating?" Sanosuke's arms were crossed over his bare chest now, puffing himself up to the stature of a maned lion. He certainly looked the part with his hair tousled, fluffing out at the sides rather than sticking straight up . . . he looked like he had just woken up from a forced sleep. "C'mon out with it!"  
  
"Funny!" Aoshi blurted out-of-pitch startling everyone but the frustrated man.  
  
The fighter groaned, running a hand through his hair and drawing it away as if it was covered in hot lava. "Nani?"  
  
"Oh yeah," Megumi fought to catch her breath, grasping the material at his hip and hoisting herself up from the ground, "I forgot to tell you that I slipped some soap into your bath yesterday,"  
  
"NANI?!"  
  
"Well," Misao took note of how the older woman pouted sweetly, thrusting her full lower lip out under the top one. "I wanted you to be clean for the dinner," A finger found its way to the darkest part of the bruise and pressed lightly to turn his head. "And you can't be clean when you're dirty,"  
  
"That has got to be the stupidest logic I've ever heard fox," he kept up the act, looking all the more hurt and pitiful so she could baby him the way he wanted her to, as well as make her feel some remorse for whatever she had done to make him look like that.  
  
"Sanosuke," Misao's eyebrows rose at the tone she took with him, something close to a feral growl. Megumi tilted her head down in a submissive gesture, "I'm starting to smell dirty,"  
  
"That's just fine with me, kitsune,"  
  
"But it's not fine with ME, tori-atama,"  
  
From somewhere far removed from the raspy sexual tension Aoshi coughed, "Would you mind if I take Misao to the Dojo myself?"  
  
"You do realize that I've lived this way for a whole twenty years, and I've never had any OTHER complaints,"  
  
"And just what would you be insinuating?"  
  
"I'm not insinuating nothing, I'm hinting at the fact that maybe you're not the first - "  
  
"I'm not the first to give you a black eye?"  
  
"You didn't give me a black eye fox, you gave me a black chi - yow!"  
  
Misao and Aoshi turned on their heels in what they hoped was the direction of the Kamiya Dojo as they heard the sickening sound of a lady's fist slamming itself into the eye socket of man who had dug himself way too deep a hole that both he and all his ego couldn't fit in.  
  
"Kuso Megumi, what the hell did ya do that for?"  
  
"I did what any self-respecting woman would do when her personal life is being threatened by her boyfriend!"  
  
"Boyfriend?"  
  
"That's what I said, Tori-at - "  
  
"Remind me why those two didn't get together sooner?" Aoshi murmured to Misao, trying to cover the telling silence burning up the atmosphere behind them. What a display of public affection that must be!  
  
"Why Aoshi," Misao glanced up at him and felt the urge to copy the couple they had just left arguing in the street. "I thought you didn't care about trivial social things like that."  
  
"I do when it affects the environment I work in, and that letter Kaoru-san sent you has definitely affected me in more ways than one,"  
  
"Like getting you on a train?"  
  
His head bent down in a nod of acknowledgement. "Aa," Suddenly he knelt down on one knee, tucked his pointer under her chin, and drew her in for a soft, lingering kiss. "And driving me to finally kiss you like that," his hands grazed her shoulders and came to rest clasped at the small of her back. "And this," his mouth closed over hers, teasing her return with a slight tug on her small frame into his larger one.  
  
As they came up for air, Misao inhaled deeply, "As well as making you more spontaneous," She looked at him, hoping that the delight she felt while in his arms was warming her eyes and blushing her cheeks so he would keep her happy forever by letting her stay in his embrace until the end of time . . . just like this.  
  
"That too," Aoshi mused with a bob of his head, his embrace still tight. The image of the feather flying out of the train window had yet to leave his mind. Moving his mouth to her ear, he whispered, "But enough of this," with a tender enough tone that stilled her fearful heart. It almost stopped as he kissed her quickly and fiercely, his lips leaving a burn along hers that she gingerly touched as he bounded back up to his feet.  
  
"Ao-"  
  
He smiled down at her while holding out his hand. "Come Misao, let's get going,"  
  
Wondering at the past events the seconds prior had brought, Misao touched a fingertip to his palm and drew back as if she had touched molten lead and shook her head. "Aoshi,"  
  
His smile was faltering by her every gesture and his tone conveyed his confusion. "Nani?"  
  
She blinked up at him through her innocent wide ocean-set eyes and took a long-suffering breath. "Are you trying to realize this as well?"  
  
He considered her question as the breeze lazily blew his bangs clear of his eyes. Finally he answered her with a half-hearted nod. "Somehow," he began, ignoring her reluctance to take his hand as he rightfully grabbed a hold of hers. "I've always realized that this would be an emotion I would have to fight,"  
  
"Fight?"  
  
"Aa," he bent low to her, folding their clasped hands up to cover his heart. "And lose to,"  
  
"Aoshi-"  
  
"It's true," he caught her chin, and drew her lips back to his and breathed more than spoke "I'm not used to showing my emotions," over her slightly open mouth. "Be patient Misao,"  
  
"Your eyes tell me all I need to know." And they did as she searched through the absence of ice in those deep halved circles of blue. She could feel his reluctance, his struggle with the thought of holding her again, steaming up the train widow . . .  
  
"What do they tell you now?" Aoshi's voice was low and smooth, his gaze vaguely piercing for any signs of want.  
  
"That you love me," her eyelids closing as he dropped their clasped hands to twine themselves in her braid, Misao wrapped her arms around his neck and with one last breath between them, she found herself swept up in the current of his emotions.  
  
"Perceptive," From somewhere outside of the fire spreading from the small of her back to consume her entire body, Misao could feel the ground under her feet fall away as he gathered her up to his chest. She soon found herself pressed against a wall, pinned down by his build, and held aloft by his strength.  
  
"You," she paused before moving her mouth to tug at his earlobe, her voice coming in jagged rasps, "Taught me," and bent her right knee to side his hip, "well,"  
  
Rolling her head to the side, Misao could barely make out the hazy form of what looked like a slightly flustered Kaoru with her free hair swinging wildly behind her as she jogged down the path. The ninja's eyes narrowed as she passed, trying to discern who or what was intruding on her moment of ecstasy. Especially now that her kimono were being coaxed off her shoulders and his embrace had traveled lower to curve around her waist.  
  
Her attention returned to massaging the base of her boyfriend's neck, just as her giggling friend took off past them, swerving off to collapse in a fit of giggles on the riverbank. "Aoshi," she moaned into the air, praying to Kami-sama that this moment would never end. Or at least end with her Aoshi's trench coat lying in an unceremonious heap on the ground behind them.  
  
"Misao," it was this possessive growl emanating from his throat that sent her thoughts flying into every different direction imaginable. "I'm so sorry,"  
  
"It's alright," she ground her teeth together to keep from exhaling in a most unbecoming screech as his lips brushed against her collarbone, "You're with me now, that's all that matters,"  
  
Again, the outside world dared to intrude as she cradled the back of his head in a hand, the other one sliding from his shoulders to stroke his chest fervently.  
  
It arrived in Himura's playful voice trailing after his beloved, "You shouldn't have run off, de gozaru na!"  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
AIEEEE! That was so much fun! And mighty *tasty* with Aoshi and Misao against a wall . . . how incredibly wonderful. *hentai grin*  
  
And don't worry, that somewhat OOC Aoshi is really in character for this story, as you will all find out why in the next few chapters. Now I just have to interrupt them, though I absolutely hate to do that to couples who have finally found each other.  
  
Ah well, so are the troubles with being an author and manipulating her favorite characters. Another trouble with being an author is getting some constructive criticism or REVIEWs. Please do so, then/or move along to the TICKLE FEST and then the DINNER! How much fun is this gonna be? Hmm? Any guesses? 


	8. Celebrate: Evening

Don't Say it With Flowers!  
  
By Starhopper  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my sketchbooks and DVDs. Everything else belongs to Nobuhiro Watsuki and many other respected businessmen who make RK available to the masses.  
  
Time for dinner! Please tell me that you're just starving for some juicy gossip with a side of delicious romance?  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
- Say it With a Celebration! Part 4: Evening and an Intervention  
  
Kenshin darted past the couple pressed against the Dojo wall without a second thought. The first consumed his mind with tickling Kaoru to death for teasing him. How could he, a former assassin, fall for the "Look, what's that over there?" line?  
  
"You shouldn't have run off, de gozaru na!" he lilted in a playful tone. He suddenly spied her rolling in fits of laughter on the riverbank and leapt off the path to crouch beside her.  
  
"Kenshin!" The Kamiya master breathed in delight as she relaxed onto her back.  
  
"Aa, Sessha found you, de gozaru ka," he reached calloused fingers to the curve of her neck and ran them along the skin. He grinned as the giggles wracked her body and she curled in on herself to escape his clutches.  
  
"Mou, Kenshin that's not fair,"  
  
"Hai, Sessha believes it is de gozar- ack!" He lost his words as she reached up and pulled him down to lie on the grass beside her.  
  
"Okay, that was not fair, de gozaru yo," he grunted, rolling himself onto his side to allow for a better position of attack. They were both smiling and laughing now as he wriggled his fingers between the cracks of her shoulders and neck to reach her sensitive shoulder blades. Kaoru at once tried to roll out of his grasp, but found it hopeless when an arm snaked around her waist and held her captive as she started to cry from laughing so hard.  
  
"Ken-shin, stop - onegai, I give up!"  
  
With a regretful sigh, Kenshin lurched forward to catch his breath. It was nice to be enjoy his moments with her. Holding her, kissing her, tickling her, teasing her. It was almost sinful how much he enjoyed teasing her. He should protect her, not attack her like he had just done with a completely unfair advantage on his behalf.  
  
She would give herself up for him, only him. For several months he had suffered under her power. He had never dreamed that he held sway over her emotions until that fateful day of their first anniversary. This unworthy one had power? Power over the ones he loved? Especially that one girl who made his stomach twist and his heartache with merely a call of his name.  
  
Through the tears and fire fringe of his hair, the ex-hitokiri could barely make out the blurry image of a khaki trench coat plastered against the wall of the Dojo. A trench coat that was being shoved off the tall frame of one of the most dignified ninja in western Japan.  
  
Of course he wasn't upholding that title at this point.  
  
Slender legs were wrapped around his waist, as equally slender fingers were gripping his shoulders. Suddenly the object of his affection was revealed as Misao pressed her blushing cheek against his shoulder.  
  
Kenshin was by now blushing himself silly, and it didn't help that Kaoru had joined him in gaping at the couple, judging by how quickly the giggles had died down. Chancing a glance her way, his wide eyes caught hers.  
  
"He finally realized his feelings," he barely heard her whisper from behind her hand.  
  
"Hai, de gozaru na," he nodded in just as quiet a whisper. He frowned suddenly, "But dinner is soon, de gozaru."  
  
"Kenshin," the woman beside him hissed, the hand held in embarrassment slowly falling away from her mouth, "We can't just interrupt them," her stomach growled in protest and she bit her lip while still looking at him.  
  
He just chuckled in rebuttal while looking at her, adoration glimmering in his velvet eyes.  
  
"Well, maybe we can sneak by them, at least," Kaoru let herself down to rest on her stomach for conducive thinking, finding it impossible not to look at Aoshi or her friend no matter which position she took. Thankfully she now had the bank of the river to block her view.  
  
"Or wait until Yahiko and Tsubame walk by, de gozaru - " Kenshin mused then felt the breath in his throat catch. Walking down the path in step were the young samurai and the proper little waitress. Judging from the innocent laughter shared between the two, both were so caught up in the joy of being young and in puppy love to notice the lovers.  
  
Bowing his head, the Rurouni prayed that they would continue to be jovial and completely miss what would force a permanent blush to stain the girl's cheeks. But he knew that no god would grant his futile wish in the time before they rounded the corner. Swinging his legs under him, Kenshin prepared himself to spring for intervention, but stopped himself with the echo of a very familiar laugh.  
  
"Oh ho ho ho! And I thought we were breaking all the public codes, Tori- atama!"  
  
Kenshin relaxed with a sigh as he rocked backwards to lie on his back, trying to quell the laughter bubbling up in his throat.  
  
Kaoru's face appeared over his in concern. "Kenshin? Shouldn't we,"  
  
"Kiss, Kaoru?"  
  
He smiled as the adorable blush tinted her cheeks once more. Gods she was beautiful, especially when she was embarrassed.  
  
He'd have to make sure to embarrass her more often in the future.  
  
"You deserve it de gozaru," Kenshin answered her unspoken question concerning his boldness. Fingering a strand of hair hanging down her neck, he let the fingers slide up to brush against her cheek in a small circle.  
  
She looked up and barely took note of the scene epitomizing the words "embarrassment" and "blush" being played out on the path lining their home. Having timed it out just right, her student and his friend came upon a frantic couple and an insane couple. Aoshi was straightening his clothes and holding back a half-clothed Misao from killing Sanosuke, who hadn't stopped cracking jokes since coming upon the couple. Meanwhile Megumi, who was leaning against the wall and trying not to slide down into the dirt, laughed herself into insanity behind a paw. The fox ears had long sprung out at the sides of her head, Kaoru noted, her blush deepening.  
  
The innocents had been saved, and the couple from Kyoto had been sufficiently interrupted so they could all eat soon. She just hoped that Kenshin realized all this as he raised himself up on his elbow to press his lips to hers in a soft kiss.  
  
With an agreeable whimper, Kaoru opened her mouth and ignored the growls of her stomach to enjoy the passion of her heart. She only hoped that they would not need to be pried apart by the doctor or the ninja as she did so.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Right onto to the Celebration from here!  
  
I'd appreciate a REVIEW or three before you do though! ^_^ 


	9. Celebrate the Eternal Pledge

Don't Say it With Flowers!  
  
By Starhopper  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my sketchbooks and DVDs. Everything else belongs to Nobuhiro Watsuki and many other respected businessmen who make RK available to the masses.  
  
Time for dinner! Please tell me that you're just starving for some juicy gossip with a side of delicious romance?  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
- Say it With a Celebration Part 5: Celebrate the Eternal Pledge of Devotion  
  
The topic of startling the Rurouni and the Kasshin Master from rolling around in the grass was dropped when Sanosuke placed the heaping platters of onigiri and steaming bowls of soup in front of the drooling guests.  
  
"Oi Sanosuke, what happened to your face?"  
  
Casting an almost imperceptible glare in the direction of the doctor, the street fighter in question turned to face the smart-mouth samurai. His swollen left eye twitched in irritation.  
  
"Get in a fight?"  
  
"Dame," he spat, cocking an eyebrow. "Your other guess?"  
  
"With a futon?" Yahiko motioned towards Megumi with his bowl and waited with a sparkle in his eye for the fun to start.  
  
At that implication, Sano wordlessly rose, walked around the table to pick up the kid's now-empty bowl with a mumble of "Let me refill that for you," and was about to exit the room when Yahiko coughed.  
  
"And that's, 'Let me refill that for you, MASTER'." The kid reminded him with a grin.  
  
Mumbling something purposefully incoherent, the tall figure continued on his way out of the room.  
  
Kaoru's eyes followed his exit, then switched back to the doctor who was struggling to keep up her front. "Eh, Megumi-san," she started, prodding the woman's shoulder with her chopsticks. "He still doesn't know we know?"  
  
Through her delirious giggles, Megumi managed, "Nope."  
  
"And as his," Kenshin fumbled for the words as a hand went to sheepishly rub the back of his neck. "Uh . . . significant other, shouldn't you have already told him de gozaru yo?"  
  
Megumi pouted. "But Ken-san, he's just too easy to play," her gleaming eyes shifted to look at her boyfriend's Master. " . . . Thanks to Yahiko for getting the game started."  
  
Yahiko took his bow and tapped on the table with the edges of his chopsticks. "Well two months is a long time to keep something like this a secret,"  
  
Megumi tucked the glowing smile of achievement firmly in her cheek. There really was no need to tell the boy that their affair had been hidden away under the blankets for twice that long before her Rooster had stupidly let it slip. "Yes, it is." As an aside, she sniggered, "Obviously it's harder for other people to remain so subtle."  
  
Misao, if possible, blushed even darker than the cherry light her entire body was bathed in. For a quarter of a second, Aoshi smirked. But he had replaced his ease with a rocky countenance that refused to sway towards one emotion or another.  
  
Recovering from her own bout of embarrassment, Kaoru nudged Megumi in the ribs. "We all had to," she faltered as Kenshin's smile sent fluffy butterflies flying in her stomach. "Restrain ourselves from," her words dissolved into a nervous giggle and accompanying blush.  
  
Everyone nodded, with the exception of the youngest members of the anniversary entourage. Yahiko had Tsubame entranced with another tale from their adventures in Kyoto. Aoshi closed his eyes and listened to the boy use the story-telling as a vehicle to flirt with the girl, his own mind drifting to how he could've changed the current of his own emotions before they had overpowered his senses. Would he had done better by telling her his sins instead of quietly repenting them? Could he have avoided this afternoon's little incident? He had tried to ignore his inherent attraction to her for so long, then it had just -  
  
"Boiled over,"  
  
The ninja's head, along with everyone else's snapped up to catch the former gangster holding a cooking pot scorched through the center and looking very frustrated . . . to say the very least for a man like him, proud as he was.  
  
Slapping a chuckling Megumi hard on the shoulder, Kaoru looked at the man. "Nani, Sanosuke-san?"  
  
"Kuso, I'm no cook!" he pleaded with his friends, holding the cooking implement towards them. "That was the last of the Miso soup too,"  
  
"Well at least there's rice,"  
  
"And we still have what's left on our plates, de gozaru yo."  
  
"Yeah, just guard it from Sanosuke though,"  
  
"YAHIKO!"  
  
"Oh, ho ho ho ho ho!"  
  
Sano's ears heard nothing of the verbal sword-clashing of the sensei and student, nor of the unabashed musings of the ninja, who was now thinking things over aloud.  
  
"That's right it just all boiled over,"  
  
"Did you say something Anata?"  
  
"Iie, just realizing what I would have done, what I had driven myself to do ever since I knew that I-"  
  
Nope, all he heard was the laughter of the doctor, mocking him once again. In play it was all well and good, but given their situation, (his in particular with the blackmail) this was just degrading. Especially when he still bore the brunt of her power in their relationship along his jaw. The bruise pounded even harder as he watched her fall to the floor.  
  
And that's what truly killed him.  
  
"Tsamaneya," he spat violently before striding over to her and yanking her up to her feet. "Do ya honestly think this is funny?" he stared deep into her eyes, letting her know he was serious with both tone and the conscious effort he made to seem imposing by leaning over her. "It's your fault that I'm in this mess,"  
  
From somewhere outside of his seething rage, Sano heard Yahiko snidely remark, "I think you should sit down, slave, and let these folks finish their dinners,"  
  
Misao said it before he could turn away from the now trembling fox he held in the palm of his hand. "Pipe down brat!"  
  
But the fear dissipated with a second wind, "ME? Who did who a favor when she accepted your sorry excuse of an anniversary present?"  
  
"Oh, don't you dare dig back there for comebacks, Kitsune," he growled, brown eyes growing wide in outrage that bordered on hurt.  
  
"Come on everyone," Kenshin and Aoshi were already helping the girls with clearing the table as the argument became that much more heated. "Let's leave these two alone with their differences,"  
  
"You have no idea what I did for you,"  
  
"No I don't," she sniffed, moving herself closer to balance the lean of power. "Because as soon as you cockily said that your broken fist was my present, my mind was clouded with how much I love that damn hand of yours and the body that goes along with it! And the next thing I knew you had kissed me,"  
  
"You kissed me," he reminded her with a firm shake on her captive arm. "And you understood then what I'm still fighting for now,"  
  
"And that would be?"  
  
"That I have to at least look like I have some say in our life together, if not actually have the real thing!"  
  
"You want respect?"  
  
"No, I want cooperation," his mouth was a firm line of determination.  
  
"I didn't even think you knew what that word meant," her own was curled in a playful snarl.  
  
"I love you,"  
  
Now she was taken aback. She lurched forward and crushed her lips to his, then lurched back to her original place in the argument. "Now cooperate with that!"  
  
Instead of shoving her against the wall and kissing her back with at least that much intensity she had just thrown at him, Sano threw down her arm and held up his fist. The same one she had attended to those many months ago in Kyoto.  
  
She instinctively cowered and would have sunk to the floor if not for her knowledge that he would never hurt her like he had. Sanosuke may have been a brash young man at times, (well, all the time) but he knew her limitations and the past that sculpted them so.  
  
Sanosuke recognized her defensive position and the look of rage eased into a complacent frown. He shook his head as she righted herself. "Megumi, I fought for your reputation, just like I've always done," his voice dropped off as he looked down at the ground sheepishly and a hand came to rub the back of his neck. But his eyes were clear and focused when he looked back up into her own. "It was for you that I slammed this fist into a bakayarou's face for calling you a whore who ran a brothel-clinic,"  
  
"You - you did that?" she found herself reaching for his right hand, and once she had it pulled it close to her chest. "For me?"  
  
"Kuso Megumi, who else would I do it for?" she expected him to smile as he lovingly said this, but he wore a countenance of outrage instead of affection. After a moment, he pulled his palm away from her grasp and stared hard at the ground. "It's the only thing I have to offer you!"  
  
Outside the kitchen the girls were gathered round the slightly open shoji, jostling for a better position to witness the unexpected turn of events. Yahiko joined them, somewhat reluctantly though with one foot set to send him springing in the opposite direction of the door. Even Kenshin and Aoshi, who had been smartly avoiding watching the argument and possibly getting involved, turned their heads and drew closer to their girlfriends for a peek at what might happen.  
  
"Sanosuke," Megumi's breath caught when she saw his knuckles turn white as hot iron and the inner-fire spread into those boyish brown eyes as he looked at her. The muscles in his arm tightened and released in a downward lash at the defenseless air. Megumi was sure that anyone who had been under that punch would have been sent crashing through the ceiling of Hell on impact.  
  
Stopping herself from trying to console his obvious frustration, the doctor settled on clasping both of her hands in front of herself, head hanging between her shoulders. "Gomen ne,"  
  
"Iie," he breathed, letting the word wash over him with a tranquilizing sigh, "I'm sorry," The placidity was edged out with frustration once more as he let another punch fly to his invisible foe. "I - I'm relieved that I can rely on someone else. That just proves that I'm not by myself anymore." He nodded to himself as if this justified his fruitless but passionate punches.  
  
"I'm not either," Megumi murmured as she internalized what he had just said. Hell, the whole room resonated with what he had just said while her heart pounded to every echo of every word. A feeling started to creep over her very slowly, starting with a tingle at the back of her neck, spreading down to cloak her shoulders and flow like warm butter along her arms to coat her fingertips. It swerved about her hips and fleshed out around her stomach that, surprisingly, fluttered while the sensation continued to wind its way down the backs of her thighs, trail over her legs, and zoom over her entire aura to make her aware of the syllables he was forming on his lips right at that moment.  
  
"And yet, I'm also," he struggled with the words and Megumi rose her head to watch him claim the right ones. "Also frustrated at myself for letting it happen when I know I can give nothing in return,"  
  
The woman's head snapped up at that last admission, her mouth open to chastise him to the greatest measure. But she closed it as his eyes flicked down to hers in warning to let him finish.  
  
"I'm a gambler, a guy with not the cleanest of records, dirt-poor,"  
  
"Sanosuke, you're not poor. Sure you evade paying up the money in medical bills that you owe the clinic,"  
  
The eyebrow that had begun to twitch as she interrupted blew up into more than just irritation and a loud outburst of, "Kuso Fox! I'm trying to propose to you and you won't even shut up!"  
  
A delighted squeal from the girls watching from the crack in the doorway was silenced with a hand on Kaoru's mouth and an arm around the waist from Kenshin while Aoshi simply placed a finger to Misao's lips. Tsubame's shade was turning pink along with her fearless friend who was going for a record-setting, full-body blush. Despite their positions, all men plus boy were looking on intently as the scene continued to unfold before them.  
  
"Just this once, will you let me have the last word?"  
  
"And what would that one be Tori-atama?" his girlfriend practically purred as she covered her mouth with her loosely fisted right hand and dangled her left in front of him expectantly.  
  
"There's more than just one," Sano grinned as he dug a hand into his pocket, fishing around for something. "I love you Kitsune, always have, and always will. This fist and this heart belong to you," proffering the seemingly simple gold band between his forefinger and thumb, he continued, "if you want them. Marry me if you do."  
  
Stomach having just returned from hitting the floor and bouncing back up into her middle, Megumi was frozen in her emotional motion sickness. Her mind was bombarded by images of their past together, while her ears rung with the myriad of words they had exchanged. They began with a certain bite and snap from her vixen jaws, insulting him. However, they finally eased into playful yips and jibes, at last ending with a blush in the recent memories of their months as lovers.  
  
She had been silent for so long that Sano started to get a little nervous and leaned forward to peer into her eyes, those same eyes that were shadowed by furrowed, uncertain brows. "Megumi?"  
  
"Well, I," she paused, deftly slipping her left ring finger through the band as she wound her arms about his neck. "The truth is," Confusion didn't describe the look plastered on the man's face as his beloved accepted his proposal with a nuzzle against an ear with her nose and a whispered, "I do."  
  
"YATTA!" was the last thing everyone heard before the doctor was literally up in the fighter's embrace, legs swinging gleefully over his forearms as Sano twirled around, kissing her lips and hugging her tight. It drew everyone tighter to their loved ones, even the youngest couple who weren't yet so bold to shoot the other a tender look without blushing and looking away. Each girl wore her own private smile, whether it was tucked so carefully under rounded cheeks, worn bravely with shining eyes to make it sparkle, or spread with a laugh as her boyfriend rested his chin on her shoulder.  
  
But none could compare to the elated grin Megumi wore. She felt as if she were flying. Closing her eyes once more, she drew her arms out to the sides and taking a soul-filling breath was lifted higher and higher. Glancing down, she found herself amidst the clouds . . . only she was alone.  
  
That was when her eyes snapped open, and she threw her arms around his neck with a yelp. Her yip was soon followed by a crash through the doorway, drawing both Sano's and her own gaze to the pile of eavesdroppers and onlookers rolling on the floor, shouting insults and empty threats at the other couples.  
  
"Well there goes the fun of keeping it a secret," Megumi mumbled to her partner in crime, whose arms were still holding her tight.  
  
"Looks that way, Megitsune," he agreed as he bent down slightly, letting her gracefully land on the floor and stepping in front of him, took up the stance she most often used when dealing with her (now) betrothed; hands at her hips, a fake disapproving frown on her face.  
  
"Ahem,"  
  
The quarreling continued despite her cough for attention.  
  
Raising his arms, Sano attempted to catch their attention, "Oi, minna,"  
  
Again, no response as Kaoru and Misao covered their mouths and rolled with suppressed laughter as Yahiko tried to go up against Kenshin and Aoshi for collectively bumping into Tsubame and knocking her down. Sounds of "I've taken on ninjas before, just look at your girlfriend!" as well as "It was never my intention to knock down such a beautiful young lady," which was then countered with a jealous, "HEY! You have yours right there!" accompanied by a jut of the young samurai's finger in the direction of a less than ladylike Misao.  
  
It was entirely too entertaining.  
  
Megumi threw up her hands, admiring the ring that adorned her finger as she did so with a barely perceptible giggle. "First they're too engrossed in our lives . . . now they're back into their own!"  
  
Sano heard the laugh and guessed correctly that she was still in a state of disbelief. Shaking his head, he stepped up beside her and whispered, "Hey, I got an idea,"  
  
"What?"  
  
Nodding to the rapidly cooling dishes of food for their celebration banquet, Sano waited for the thoughts separate from those of marriage and sakura blossoms to catch up to his usually sharp fox. She caught on quickly, and winking at him, turned towards the bickering and giggling bunch.  
  
"Well, I guess me and my fiancé can just eat ALL the food,"  
  
"Yeah, F-O-O-D." He turned her back to the feast for the eyes and the stomach, calling "FOOD for you and me Kit-" over his shoulder.  
  
"Ah, no you don't!"  
  
Just as planned, Misao righted herself and was determined not to let that damn Rooster get all the chow. She stormed over to the table and plopped down into her seat, shoving the couple aside to make room in the process.  
  
Kaoru was right behind her, towing Kenshin by the collar of his gi to their traditional positions at the table.  
  
She was followed shortly by Yahiko who was blazing at the fact that, "The Tanuki and the Itachi would eat before HIM? Never!" while Tsubame was escorted in on the arm by a very tall and very handsome ex-Okashira. Bowing in respect to Yahiko's wishes as he came to where the boy sat fuming, Aoshi patted the girl's hand and sat her down, then came around to the other side of the table, kneeling beside Misao with a smile.  
  
Megumi shot Sanosuke a grin that spelled it out. Mission accomplished.  
  
"And now we even have something to celebrate," she purred, catching his chin under her pointer and torturously running it along his bruised jaw as she turned to seat herself.  
  
Coughing to catch everyone's attention, Kenshin rose his cup into the air and covered Kaoru's left hand with his right.  
  
"Here's to anniversaries,"  
  
"To the love that calms the soul," Aoshi added, smiling down at Misao.  
  
Several pairs of eyes drifted to Yahiko who remained strangely silent until he acquiesced and lifted his cup high, mumbling, "Yeah, what he said,"  
  
Sano beamed, while an arm snaked about Megumi's shoulders. He lifted his sake high, took a breath and said, "To a new life with the women we love,"  
  
Megumi melted into his side with those words but froze up just as quickly when the steady chastising clapping of gloved hands filled the thoughtful silence of the room. Casting her eyes about the table, the doctor noticed that she wasn't the only one to crinkle her nose in distaste as cigarette smoke began to permeate the air like oil spreading sickly over the surface of fresh water.  
  
"Bravo, bravo,"  
  
She didn't need to look behind them. The horror flushing Kaoru's face, the anger boiling deep within Misao, not to mention the stiffness of Sano's arched back told Megumi all she needed to know.  
  
The wolf's low whistle brought on a new wave of the nicotine tide, choking the air and forcing Tsubame to cough sweetly.  
  
That brought Yahiko into the realm of the living and furious, joining the already tense crowd of couples. His fist clenched and released with warning at his side.  
  
"Nice speech," Saitou continued, blowing thin streams of smoke through his nostrils. "Especially you hatchling," he snorted arrogantly. "ahou."  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^**^*^*  
  
Well? Did ya like?  
  
! Thanks so much for all the reviews I've received. 68?! Cool! (To sound like the collegiate student that I am.) I'm glad ya like it! I LOVE it. I get to work with all the characters! *jumps up and down* It's just too fun to pass up!  
  
YES, Saitou is here, as so many of you wanted. Truth be told, I knew I would bring him in eventually, but I decided to stick him in earlier than planned. And what about that proposal? Tell me in a REVIEW if ya don't mind. ^_^ 


	10. Celebrate the Aroma of Nicotine

Don't Say it With Flowers!  
  
By Starhopper  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my sketchbooks and DVDs. Everything else belongs to Nobuhiro Watsuki and many other respected businessmen who make RK available to the masses.  
  
Even with Saitou's appearance, dinner's still going . . . wanna join them?  
  
Hope this will tide you starving readers over!  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
- Say it With a Celebration Part 6: Celebrate the Aroma of Nicotine  
  
Sano felt every muscle in his body tense to their elastic breaking point as that familiar insult was blown through the smoke of the wolf's cigarette. He also felt Megumi's palm against his chest in an effort to soothe his nerves.  
  
Without turning around, the "hatchling" took a deep breath, gulped down his saucer of sake, and upon swallowing, growled, "Saitou." Twisting his torso in the direction of the drifting nicotine cloud, Sanosuke eyed the cop warily and moved to stand up, but halted as his fox's fingers wound tighter into his gi and yanked him down with a pleading look in her eyes.  
  
Smiling down at her, a smile that curved to a cocky grin, he patted her hands and whispered "Daijoubou, Megitsune," and tried once more to face Saitou.  
  
Try being the operative word.  
  
With another great yank, he was flat on his butt and Megumi was patting his head.  
  
"I'm on a break," she informed him with a grin.  
  
"Since when?" he asked her seriously with innocent looking eyes.  
  
But Megumi waved him off and ignored his stupid question. "And I DO NOT want to fix that damn hand of yours when I'm trying to relax." She told him in a demanding harsh whisper that was becoming of her . . . or so Sano thought.  
  
"If Saitou wasn't here, I'd carry you off right now Fox," his mouth curled into a little boy's clever grin with a twenty-something's male mind.  
  
The battle won, Sanosuke settled back into a more comfortable position in front of his food, an arm around Megumi's shoulder in claim of her as one worthy of his protection. Though it was truly the other way around.  
  
Meanwhile Misao was trying to swallow her rice as she bore witness to how Sano let himself be held back by this woman. No, not held back, but pacified. And he wasn't the only one as she took note of how Kaoru was lightly massaging Himura's sword hand from where it was braced with splayed, twitching fingers against the tatami. Taking stock of her affect on Aoshi, she turned to find her boyfriend sipping at his tea with (seemingly) disinterest at the silent exchange between the old enemies. However, she knew the gears were turning in his head, those ones reserved for calculating missions and escape routes, and judging by how he had her pulled into his side, he was ready to save her if a fight broke out.  
  
But of course, no fight was to ensue with loved ones in the room, realized ones at that for Himura. And Sanosuke wouldn't want to lose face as the mature man Megumi had fallen in love with and had accepted a marriage proposal from.  
  
Saitou had to make the first move.  
  
And he did so with the grace and cold beauty that made him deadly.  
  
"What a warm welcome I've received," Saitou bent low in a bow of respect, mocking his former enemies. The sound of freshly shined shoes clacking against the wood floor assaulted their ears as the wolf made his way into the dining area.  
  
"Well, what can ya expect when you insult a man?" Sano coughed over his shoulder.  
  
The crackle of burning paper and nicotine crushing together in a chunk of ash filled the silence as the cop took a long drag of his cigarette before he replied curtly, "I see no man in here,"  
  
Sanosuke's body went entirely rigid before he cracked his knuckles on the hand that was resting on his fiancée's shoulder. Megumi grimaced at the annoying sound.  
  
"Well," Saitou blew yet another ribbon of smoke to weave into the cloud hanging over their heads. "Maybe with the exception of Shinomori over there," It seemed it was the first time Saitou had taken note of all the guests seated at the table, obviously celebrating. "And there's the weasel . . . and Battousai. So, that's what going on,"  
  
"What do you mean 'going on'?" Yahiko spoke up, taking a break from trying to calm Tsubame down. "We're enjoying a well-earned celebration,"  
  
"Of how pathetic your lives are?"  
  
"No, that you so rudely interrupted," Kaoru growled low beneath her breath just as the policeman made his guess. "Now if you wouldn't mind,"  
  
"What wouldn't I mind . . . Tanuki?"  
  
With a raise of her brow, Misao noted how the redness of rage rose from the floor up and overtook her friend before Kaoru shook, jumped up, and threatened a punch to Saitou's left shoulder . . .  
  
. . . Which was easily caught by the skillful hands of the ex-hitokiri who had finally lifted his head and exposed his eyes. They were at a strange slant, serious yet still purple with no amber undertones alighting the corners. He turned to look up at the policeman with the Kamiya Master's fist tightly clutched in his fingers.  
  
"Sessha isn't surprised to know you survived," he started at a deadly calm pace, "Then again, he knew you had something to do with the placement of the Juppongatana members in the higher ranks of Meiji Government,"  
  
Kaoru blinked at the wide smile Saitou formed as the Battousai's distinct assassin's tone drew itself into full fury at that last word. Kenshin himself was blinking rapidly at how fast the anger had risen, confused that the battle started some twelve years ago had yet to end. He had to find a way to resist the urge to battou-jutsu the Shinsengumi captain; even it was with the blunt edge of the sakabatou. Anything to erase the smug look the policeman wore with pride at being able to infuriate the rurouni past his vows of peace.  
  
A stream of smoke settled itself on the air above the Kenshin before Saitou replied to the Battousai's inference.  
  
"It is hard to wound a Wolf of Mibu. Harder still to kill him under falling rubble." Another puff on the cigarette and the insults flew in the direction of the chicken-head sitting somewhere behind him. "It proves one's ignorance to think otherwise,"  
  
"THAT'S IT!" Sanosuke jumped out of Megumi's arms and slammed his left fist into the floor the way Anji had taught him those many months ago. Naturally, the floorboards were reduced to a fine dust cloud that quickly dissipated with his advance on the cocky cop. "Ya got somethin' to say, say it to my face!"  
  
Smoothly, Saitou turned on his heel to address the man who was literally breathing down his neck. "Was I talking to you?"  
  
"Ya are now!" Sanosuke roared slamming his right fist into his open left palm. "To think I even felt sorry that you might've died . . . eh, let's go!"  
  
"Sanosuke!" Megumi's voice rose above the frightened "kowaii"s emanating from a shaking Tsubame, as well as the cursing from her consoler Yahiko in Sanosuke's direction to knock off the strutting and sit back down. No, it was her voice, reproaching, commanding.  
  
Sano's dangerously slit brown eyes slid to the left to see his fiancée approaching them, but he held a hand out to hold her at bay. "Iie, Megitsune. Not this time," he growled as his gaze traveled back to Saitou's face. After all, this was his chance to show her how he could protect her from a mutual threat in-person. There would be no tales to tell save for how he had reacted in the presence of a danger like this wolf.  
  
"Maybe you should listen to the doctor," the cop's yellow eyes grazed the shiny new band of gold around Megumi's fourth finger and flitted back up to the ex-gangster. "Or should I say fiancée?"  
  
The men in the room cringed as similar memories dodged in and out of their brains when their significant others had been referred to in such a menacing tone. Aoshi was already unconsciously pulling Misao closer to his side ready to run.  
  
"Aoshi," she wheezed in a protest that fell on deaf ears. Her own went popped as Kenshin thumped the sheath of his sword on the floor, and then let it freely clatter on the ground.  
  
"Saitou, Sano," the redhead called out to them through a haze of months and forgotten feelings of revenge. "Stop this silliness at once, de gozaru ka." The rich boom of tenor in the lowest syllables was enough to call anyone out of a warrior's confusion. And the two men in question were of no exception. The slick taste of condescendence in his best friend's voice stung Sano to the core.  
  
Again Saitou grinned and Kenshin's knuckles turned white where he staunchly held them at his sides. Before he could make a lunge, Kaoru's hands wrapped themselves around his fist and she pressed herself into his side. "And if you have to fight," she continued for him with a small smile. "Leave this house," casting a reproving look over at what used to be Sanosuke's seat, the Kamiya master shook her head and called forth some tears. "I don't want to spend my first anniversary dinner fixing the dojo."  
  
"Aa, Sessha doesn't wish for that either," her boyfriend soothed with the visible relaxation of his shoulder muscles through the gi.  
  
Saitou closed his eyes and tipped his hat, flashing them all a very fake smile rounded by the cigarette that was already half-burnt. "And with that, I bid you all goodnight." Clicking his heels, he gave a bow mocking the polite nature of the action and tried to walk by the fuming men blocking his path.  
  
"NANI?!" was the general consensus of the diners as far as Aoshi could generalize judging from the pause in both breath and movement that each person took.  
  
"I did not come here," the cop in question turned to face Kenshin full on, "to settle disputes born in the fires of Kyoto," a turn of his heel and he was watching the young, bristling fighter intensely with a predatory glint in his yellow eyes. "Nor did I return to test your fighting skills . . . hatchling," a smug smile played upon his lips as Sano forced himself to remain calm at the insult.  
  
"Then what did you come here for?" Yahiko demanded with a jump, holding his shinai in a sparring position, apparently assuming that he was left out of the Saitou's 'addressing' list for a reason.  
  
"Onegai, put that weapon away before you embarrass yourself kid," Saitou's smirk grew even larger with the satisfaction of riling the youngest member of Battousai's pathetic troupe.  
  
"You have no logical reason to challenge me." Aoshi reasoned sedately over the lip of his teacup.  
  
"For those ahou who weren't listening, I did not come here to start or end a fight," Saitou all but growled in irritation as he once again tried to leave the dojo. "My presence was called by the law of this present Meiji era. We've had complaints," he seemed to shift his closed eyes in the direction of the newly engaged couple, "Keep it down." And with that he easily sidestepped Sanosuke's imposing figure and stepped out the door.  
  
"Na-Nani?" Misao squeaked as she got up to watch Saitou's form be swallowed by the fresh darkness of the new night. Turning back to the rest of the group, including a stoically pouting boyfriend, she chirped, "What was that all about?"  
  
"Sessha suspects only Saitou knows for certain de gozaru na," Kenshin replied to no one in particular with a wistful lilt in his-rapidly sweetening voice.  
  
* * *  
  
Crossing the dirt road that ran between the dojo and the river, Saitou picked up his pace and assumed a stately walk that guarded him from question by passer-by while at the same time kept up a friendly outward appearance. He was merely a police officer out for a nightly round out to protect the innocent from injustice.  
  
Before he realized where his feet had taken him, the old Shinsengumi captain found himself on the bridge leading into downtown Edo. Yellowed eyes surveyed the area for any signs of a spy or follower from the dojo, though he reassured himself that he had left the group in an extreme state of discomfort, sufficiently staying them from any type of pursuit. After all, how could they attack him in the soft state they had assumed? That was just one difference to add to the multitude he shared with those people. His relationship was disconnected from his past just as the friendly officer Fujita Goro was completely separated from Haijime Saitou.  
  
Regardless of how he felt about hiding his past to protect his family from the fires that consumed it, he had a job to do. And unfortunately he was now commanded by the very imperial dogs that had hunted a wolf down with the Battousai during the Revolution . .  
  
As he reached in his pocket to withdraw the list, Saitou was graced with a thought that sparked and went out like the glow of a freshly lit cigarette. Perhaps Battousai was protecting his own future by assuming that new – but the possible revelation was snuffed out as he unfolded the paper with the new governor's cultured hand-written directions.  
  
By the light of his match, Saitou could make out the characters for Himura Kenshin, Kamiya Kaoru, Myojin Yahiko, Sagara Sanosuke, Shinomori Aoshi, Makimachi Misao, and Takani Megumi lining the left side of the paper and the instructions to look out for them written on the right. Trailing his eyes over the commands he'd received, he balled the paper into a crumpled mess and was about to throw it over the edge of the bridge when he was assaulted by the memories of the meeting earlier that day:  
  
"You've found them then?"  
  
"Yes, and they've gathered together for the time being . . . "  
  
"What of Himura?"  
  
A snort, "Living the peaceful life," What an innocent attempt it was too.  
  
"And that ninja?"  
  
"Shinomori," arms folded across his chest. "has sworn to atone for his sins."  
  
"The women from the Aoiya,"  
  
"Strangely enough," Battousai's woman, the weasel, "they are under the protection of the very same men you speak of."  
  
"Ah," the anonymous official smiled knowingly. "That's good then,"  
  
Foolish is the word.  
  
"Zanza, Kanryuu's opium producer?"  
  
"Also in the care of one another." It was fact enough that Battousai attracted the destitute of society like maggots to a carcass.  
  
The governor turned his back to the policeman and assumed a position in front of his grand office window. "These people saved this country from Makoto Shishio,"  
  
Saitou noted how his own part in stopping the madman was conveniently forgotten.  
  
Which was a very good thing. Eras would bleed together in his family's blood if that news got out.  
  
"They could save it again,"  
  
Another snort. The hell they could. Just with the same amount of luck that this man could anticipate an Aku-Soku-San if Saitou so felt inclined to slay one more Imperialist at that very moment.  
  
"Information aside I want you, Fujita-san, to keep a close eye on them."  
  
Saitou narrowed his already closed eyes and moved his left foot out, bending his right knee in warning.  
  
However, his chance was lost when the State official turned back and striding over, proffered an envelope to a wolf of Mibu.  
  
"These people are your responsibility now. Guard them."  
  
Saitou growled out loud, "Guard them."  
  
Back in the blackness of the evening he crushed the paper in his fist with a vengeance. He suddenly tossed the list in the air and with a smile, fisted his hand and punched it into the river. At the splash, he started walking again to his precinct.  
  
"Shinsengumi don't need to be told what to do,"  
  
His eyes flashed amber under the cap he was forced to wear by the lapdogs of the era.  
  
"Least of all by an Imperialist."  
  
* * *  
  
Whatever lightning flash of Battousai that had overtaken his soul from the moment Kaoru seemed threatened had faded back into the Rurouni with the wolf's exit, much to his love's relief.  
  
The woman in his thoughts reassured him of her existence with a gentle tug on the back of his gi. "Hopefully now we'll all be able to settle down and finish our dinner." Her fingers trailed up his spine to the fluff of his ponytail and gave it a yank to break the uneasy stillness that had settled in the room. "Come on Kenshin,"  
  
Kenshin's resulting yelp of surprise brought everyone out of their bewilderment and threatened to send all into fits of laughter over the insanity of the past moments. Including Aoshi, who snickered as Misao rejoined him from a long watch out of the doorway of the living area.  
  
"Just as curious as ever, eh Itachi?" he questioned when he caught her chin as she settled herself on the floor.  
  
"You know me Aoshi," she cooed stealing a quick kiss that she thought was completely stolen until she heard Yahiko and saw Tsubame blush.  
  
"Oi, I thought you had had enough of that," the young samurai reprimanded, and the rest of the group joined him in casting reproving, (albeit fake) frowns at the close couple.  
  
Pouting as her boyfriend completely withdrew his hand from its hold on her waist, Misao cast a searing gaze in Yahiko's direction accompanied with the words, "Ooh, you little brat, wait until this dinner is over,"  
  
"I'll be long gone by then I-ta-chi," the boy enunciated each syllable clearly and cheekily as he lent the waitress his hand to help her up. "Tsubame wants to take a walk,"  
  
"A-Aa," the girl nodded her head, accepting the calloused palm of the sword student who hoisted her up a little too eagerly. Bouncing off his chest, Tsubame's face rivaled the beet red of the vegetables spread out on the table.  
  
Sanosuke immediately chuckled, "And when's the wedding Yahiko . . . chan?" and was almost instantly slapped with a playful paw from Megumi.  
  
He turned his head to her and shot her a confused look. "What? Don't I get my revenge on him for blackmailing us?"  
  
A roll of his beloved's eyes was his only response.  
  
"CHAN?!" Yahiko was bristling; the shinai still clenched in his fist was being raised in a challenge to the ex-gangster. "You dare bring up the past from that party a year or two ago?" But with a small shake of Tsubame's head, he relented and slipped it back into the strap along his back. "C'mon Tsubame, I'll walk you home,"  
  
"H-Hai!" And with that a fuming Yahiko stalked out of the room with the prim little steps of his friend trailing behind him. At the doorway, she bowed to the other couples, politely saying thank-you before a hand found her left one and rudely dragged her off into the night, muttering something about how all power had been lost as far as the chicken-head was concerned.  
  
"Well, this sure has been one eventful evening," Misao started, ending in a yawn that Aoshi was quick to tap closed in a cute gesture of affection and resulted in the locking of tender gazes.  
  
"Kenshin, you look tense," Kaoru's grip on his hair loosened and her fingers found the nape of his neck and began to gently knead the knot forming at either side of his spine from holding his shoulders so taught and on guard.  
  
"Iie," the Rurouni tried to shake her massage free, but surrendered with a blush as they both took their seats once more.  
  
"Yes, one that I'm very willing to sleep-off," Megumi added while still standing at Sanosuke's side, palming his shoulder in an effort to get his attention. She let her voice drop so that it appeared she was merely whispering the "Verrry willing,"  
  
"Oh," It took a moment, but soon realization dawned on the fighter's face, and he winked at her. He moved to address the rest of the couples, coughing to draw them out of their separate romantic interludes. "I think it's best we call it night, ne?"  
  
When the attention he sought for was not given, Sanosuke grabbed the hand that was curved over his shoulder with his right and spun on his heel to face her, a wide grin playing on his lips. "I don't think they'll miss us Kits-"  
  
Hot lips crushing his sufficiently derailed the twenty-year-old's train of thought.  
  
It was completely obvious Aoshi and Misao or Kenshin and Kaoru would not miss them. In fact, judging from how close the Oniwaban members were getting, they wouldn't even realize the fox and the chicken had left. As for the Rurouni and his Kasshin Master, well . . . nothing could separate them and from the closed eyes of Kenshin, they didn't want it to.  
  
"I agree," she nodded in a sexy growl that promised a very eventful night to be had if he would just shut up and leave the room.  
  
And being the good future-husband he was, Sano did not argue.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
A/N: Well, I was planning to get the Ken/Kao sweet moment (i.e., the FUTON part) in but the Saitou part took longer than I anticipated. However, I wanted to convey how each character felt about the wolf, Sano in particular. While I'm not opposed to Slash, I draw the line with Saitou and Sano. There's more of a father/son, teacher/unwilling student relationship in that the cop actually wants Sanosuke to work on all aspects of his fighting abilities just so he can have a fair fight with the much more experienced Shinsengumi captain. And Sano does just this to prove with an adolescent pride that he can. He was also deeply affected by the 'death' of Saitou in Kyoto, but he didn't commiserate over it, like he had lost someone he loved. It was more of 'aw shucks, I can't fight with you anymore!' kinda thing.  
  
Also, I'd like to add to any "Saitou hates Kenshin, so why'd he help him?" ney-sayers that in the Movie, Saitou does just this. Watch closely next time, you'd be surprised what you can read into that movie from how Mr. Wolfie-boy acts.  
  
Argh, when did this turn into a rant?! Anyways, I just wanted to explain a few things and promise you all that cute fluff is a comin, so please keep a toothbrush handy to prevent cavities. And I realize that I focus an AWFUL lot of my time on Sano/Meg, but they're my favorite couple (well, favorite couple to write for at least), but I'm moving away from them (only innuendo next time for them, no separate chapter [I'm thinking you all can figure out what happened . . . they're engaged now . . . ] ) but plenty of Ken/Kao. I have a theory revolving around Ken and Tomoe and how he sleeps when he's a Rurouni. For those of you who remember the "Say it Without the Dono" chapter . . . Ken overcomes his feelings of inadequacy to sleep like normal people in the upcoming chapter.  
  
Does it please the wonderful readers? Or is this humble author losing it?  
  
Please REVIEW and let me know and as always, thanks so much for reading! 


	11. Celebrate the Comfort of a Futon

Don't Say it With Flowers!  
  
By Starhopper  
  
Disclaimer: Don't want to write the same disclaimer that I've been using for the previous chapters . . . nor do I feel that I have to say this every time: NO!  
  
SPOILER WARNING! For the OAVs. A slight one, but a spoiler nonetheless. (It's a spoiler for anyone who hasn't learned about Tomoe and what she *wink* 'did' for our little Kenny-chan.  
  
Well, back to the mush. There had to be SOME introspection and character analysis in this story. I'm working with too many different characters that I have to "Or else I'll overflow". And slip in some opinions of my own in the attempt. ^_~ (Cookies for those who know who said that quote and from what series!)  
  
TERMS: Hoshi - star, Hikari - light, Anata - dear, more intimate form for 'you'  
  
I think everyone's getting sleepy, sans the chicken and fox who just slipped out the back door with wicked looking grins on their faces. Time for beddy-by!  
  
Angst, fluff, more angst, more fluff, and a futon ahead!  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
- Say it With a Celebration Part 7: Celebrate the Comfort of a Futon  
  
The stars. Too many to name, too many to know, but each had a special charm.  
  
And the former rurouni counted himself lucky to be sitting on the porch of his permanent home, staring up into the wonders the heavens held. Every star seemed to be out tonight to brighten his dark skies. How had he earned the trust of his world to let him feel tiny and small, dimming his insignificance to the point of utter extinction? Just crush him between the thumb and forefinger of an ancient god, and his past would dissolve out of existence.  
  
But then he would shift his gaze and let it wander over the garden and woods beyond and realize how important his life was to this world. To this world he had dimmed many stars. Not in the cycle of nature, but by his own human divination . . . and prematurely.  
  
Shutting his eyes quickly as a tear collected at the corner of his left eye, Kenshin forced his head down to stare at the earth between his feet. So many lights suffocated, so many vengeances seeking to be wrought on this golden-eyed candlesnuffer.  
  
No, they were lives, not lights. That was a correction that had to be made. Lights had no brother who tormented them as children. Lights had no intense passions coursing through them as they made love for the first time. Lights couldn't cry as their daughter took her first breath. Lights couldn't mourn the form of life lying in shreds at the base of shrine steps and lights couldn't read the assassin's note pinned to what used to be that husband's favorite gi.  
  
Just as his head was sinking in his hands and the tears started to finally fall, the soft shuffle of her sandals politely stamped out the silence of a scream cut short as a blade, his blade, halved the vocal chords.  
  
He had to be strong for her.  
  
He had to protect her.  
  
And he couldn't do this by crying.  
  
Kenshin shot his head up and turning, regarded Kaoru pensively.  
  
"Kenshin," with those lyrical syllables, she knelt down beside him. It was obvious from the look of concern marring her beautiful face that she knew this smile. And she knew it was a fake. "Daijoub - "  
  
Her light, her marvelous light; he only wished he could bottle it and drink in this elixir of innocence that she was swimming in. Here again she was guiding him from the darkness to the wonderful warmth of a bright, vibrant star.  
  
"Hoshi," Kenshin breathed before letting the emotions flood to the surface in an embrace that knocked her to the ground. He wanted to touch a living star and drench her in his tears. "Hikari,"  
  
She in turn just let him hold her, humming softly  
  
"You blind me sometimes Kaoru," he whispered as the embrace was tightened with the urgency of a man losing his heaven. It wouldn't slip out of his hands, regardless of the memories dripping from them like blood. The weight of his lithe body rolled him over her heavily-clad-in-kimono one, and an arm shot out over her head to brace himself against the floor. "When I look at you, I can never see my past," he continued, staring deep into her wide sapphire eyes, "Or watch agony draw its last breath." His lips captured hers hungrily, wanting nothing more than to completely inhale that light as dark tears curved off his chin and splattered her porcelain complexion.  
  
When at last the ex-hitokiri somewhat begrudgingly broke the kiss, he nuzzled her nose with his, teasing her head into following every movement of the nod to proceed with the tenderness that was she entangled in. Catching the moment before she snatched it, Kenshin whispered, "Arigatou," before easing himself onto the floor, the intense strength of his embrace never waning.  
  
They lay together face to face on the porch, his bracing arm pillowing her head, Kaoru's palms flat against his chest in every gesture of how much trust she placed in this man pouring his heart out to her. It was rare to hear him talk about his past laden with such pain that she kept her lips pressed together and let him cry over the strong blows fate had dealt to him. This was the man she loved, she would share his burden, she would be there for him. He deserved an ear to hear his problems and a body to hold on to for dear life.  
  
Suddenly a hand sprang to life and wriggled out of her love's hold to dance along his arm, stopping as she approached a pronounced muscle, and giving a reassuring squeeze as her fingers went over them.  
  
"So much strength," she marveled aloud, eyes locked onto the velvet softness of his eyes. "So much sadness," her other hand palmed a tear thoughtlessly forging another trail down his face. "So much."  
  
"Aa," he returned her touch with a tentative massage at the base of her neck.  
  
"Let me share it," Kaoru bit her lip at the thought. If he was understanding how truly devoted she was to his own pursuit of happiness, the idea wouldn't repulse him.  
  
"Iie. You deserve happiness de gozaru na," Kenshin answered her reproachfully with a slight shake of his rust-crested head.  
  
"Ano," Kaoru's eyes flashed in defiance, but curled deeper into his embrace regardless with a whimper, breaking their eye-contact, "Ai-aishiteru,"  
  
"Oro?"  
  
She smacked him in the chest half-heartedly, then unfurled herself to stare him in the eyes. "Aishiteru Kenshin," the caress of her hand on his arm stopped and was overcome by it bending around his neck and her mouth moving against his without hunger, but a soft, tentative passion.  
  
Love. It was the brightest light of all.  
  
No wonder she shined in all its brilliance.  
  
As she cut off the kiss by taking unfair advantage of the dizzy-state his mind was in, Kaoru started to wiggle off the constraining embrace, but stopped midway as his left arm darted out and grasped her wrist.  
  
He sat up, amethyst eyes pulsating with a serious intention that both scared and thrilled her at the same time.  
  
Kaoru shook her head girlishly, "Iie, I-"  
  
"Aishiteru Kaoru," and dropping her wrist, Kenshin traced the outline of her face with his finger; the mischievous grin of the rurouni who'd captured her heart curling his lips. "If you'll have me,"  
  
The girl paused, the words weighted down by hope and heart sinking into her very being . . . before cuffing her boyfriend lightly over the head. "Kenshin no baka,"  
  
Before Kenshin could inquire as to why he'd been hit and batted over the head, Kaoru shook her head and grabbed his hand. "C'mon Anata, let's watch the stars,"  
  
"Iie," he balked at her insistence to dangle his feet off the edge of the porch again, staring up into the infinity that made him contemplate the deeper meaning to his existence. "I have all the starlight I need,"  
  
Her eyes began to water, a fitting smile forming upon her red lips. "Kenshi- "  
  
"Let's go to bed de gozaru," His night did not have to end because of exhaustion. He could have the brilliance of the heavens in his arms in the less-demanding atmosphere of his room.  
  
"Hai," Kaoru cast a longing sapphire gaze towards his room down the walk, then with a sigh dutifully set those eyes in the direction of her room and shifted in that direction.  
  
"Iie," a hand found her shoulder and turned her back to face him. Kenshin shook his head slightly, becoming aware that she meant go to HER bed. "With me, de goz-"  
  
However, Kaoru went red at the thought. "We can't," Pressing the tips of her fingers together, she reasoned silently that no matter how much she wanted to fall asleep in those strong and scarred arms of his, it would be scandalous, sinful . . . and all the more appealing. She blushed, recalling her dreams of late, and their involvement with the red-haired rurouni.  
  
Kenshin sighed, then it hit him with the force of Saitou's Aku-Soku-San. "Dame! Not," blushing himself silly, he thought over the million daydreams he had had of committing such an act with the Kamiya Kasshin Master. Kaoru lying beneath him, moaning his name, driving him further and further over the edge. She'd finally be his, he'd make her his, it was only right that two lovers make lo –  
  
"Ano," and shaking his head, whipped such thoughts out of it with earnest. He could not think that way if he wanted her to literally sleep next to him and have her wake up in the morning still pure, still innocent. "Just with me," stroking her cheek with the back of his hand, he whispered pleadingly, "I want you near,"  
  
Kaoru could feel her eyes widen in disbelief of what he was offering her. His room was private, a sanctuary, or so she conjectured between after breakfast and before her lessons in her passings in front of the modest space. It seemed so vacant with the futon always folded in the corner and the floor impeccably clean, but the shoji left ajar signaled his presence. And it was his presence that she felt in that room, as barren and unloved as it appeared to the eye at first glance . . . very much like it's owner.  
  
Fanning herself, the nineteen year old prepared to stand when she found Kenshin already up on his feet and bending down to lend her a hand. Once pressed close to his chest, she found no reason to say no. After all, he HAD proposed the idea himself.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
Tiptoeing through her own house made Kaoru uncomfortable enough, but when her wary gaze settled on the guest room with it's shoji wide open, she just wanted to take his hand and run to his room. But she couldn't help but pause and tilt her head at the sweetness of her friend's repose. She was genuinely happy for Misao, who had finally managed to tame that wild, stand- offish man she had loved all her life. And, just like the rest of their relationships, it was a breathtaking mutual exchange of affections.  
  
Kenshin saw them too, but was too focused on his goal at hand to stop and gaze upon the slumbering couple. However, when he felt Kaoru anchor his progress, he turned back and finding her smiling with the kindness of her lovely heart, moved to press her back into his chest and settle his chin on her right shoulder. The scene that greeted his disinterested gaze was one of Aoshi Shinomori lying flat on his back with Misao curled over his side, sleeping peaceably under his left arm. Resting on the ninja's chest were entwined right and left hands, the right thumb stroking the left's knuckles. But the smiles both wore told much more of how wonderful it felt to be in love and be loved.  
  
With a grin, Kenshin caught Kaoru's hand and stepping away with a husky whisper of, "Sleepy yet?" spun her back to him.  
  
The teenager yawned in reply and with one last look upon what she hoped would be herself and Kenshin in a few moments, followed his steps down the hallway, their hands linked between them.  
  
Pushing aside the shoji, Kenshin took a breath then turned back to take both of Kaoru's hands in his. "This is what you want, right Kaoru?" he asked her with the tone hinting at his disbelief that she was really here. "Are you sure you-"  
  
A finger over his lips caught him off-guard. "Kenshin, I love you," her features softened, yielding a dazzling smile. "I trust you."  
  
If she trusted him, then it was time to finally use that futon.  
  
Memories of a winter night darkened at the thought of waking up alone, his innocence lost with an absent Tomoe. It wouldn't happen again, Kaoru wouldn't leave him and he would not leave her.  
  
Reassured, the twenty-nine year old skidded to a stop in the corner and began to lay out the futon for her – er – them, and once it was fluffed just right, turned back to kneel in front of Kaoru. "You honor me," fires of amethyst flitted up to send her oceans of blue boiling. "For letting me sleep with one of the heavens de gozaru na."  
  
Feeling her own knees give, Kaoru sunk to the floor in front of him, palming his scarred cheek in the process. She drew his face closer to hers and pressed to his lips a kiss as soft as the down of a feather.  
  
"You honor me," she breathed in the intimate space between them, her fingers still trailing his jaw-line, "for letting me make you so happy,"  
  
A smile of relief flashed over his features before his hands rose from their pressed position on the floor and gripped her shoulders. "Aishiteru Kaoru . . . hoshi no hikari,"  
  
"Aishiteru Kenshin," Kaoru sighed in delirious euphoria as he pulled her tight against his chest, and rocking back on his knees, brought them both to lie on the futon. Her fingers gripped the neckline of his gi as her head nestled into the crook of his neck and shoulder.  
  
"Sleep," the word rolled off his tongue and smoothed her position against him into an utterly trusted relaxation.  
  
Once her breath settled into a drowsy pattern, the ex-hitokiri lay awake with his arms wrapped about his beloved, eyes unblinking at the ceiling that captivated his attention. He felt as if he was spinning on the ground, the rhythm of her exhalations and inhalations catapulting him into a realm of dream-filled sleep. But if he followed every line in the ceiling he might stay grounded. His embrace tightened slightly, pressing Kaoru to every inch of his skin, reaffirming her existence in his life/dream.  
  
She was here.  
  
She was close.  
  
She was his.  
  
Kenshin scared himself to think in those terms and believe every possessive word of it with his all of his heart. Perhaps it was the ten years of ignored loneliness screaming through his subconscious, or the primal need to have physical contact with the human race, but he was prepared to kill anyone who tried to pull her away from him at this very moment of soulful peace. He could slice the bastard's throat open without giving him a chance to scream and destroy the few traces of him before the crows could fight over the best pieces of carrion in the morning. It was a feeling that he hadn't felt since his one and only night with Tomoe so many seasons ago. When he had first touched her and realized that the life he had been pretending to live was entirely fabricated, there had been a balance, an end. That end had been fleeting in the hours of night, and when he awoke next morning, his heart was ripped out through his throat.  
  
She was gone.  
  
His piece of reality had slipped through his white-knuckled grip. The moment when his soul had found completion in that futon, everything had fallen apart. Tomoe left and died because he had been allowed to relax and take so much pleasure in the euphoria of sleeping with reality. It was that brutal morning that the appeal of sleeping in something that gave him so much comfort was lost entirely. Tree trunks, walls, and finally foregoing sleep altogether kept him on the edge of prescient thought. He could anticipate the worse from a position with sword at hand and with reflexes that were sharpened to a point.  
  
Kaoru murmured something low in her dreams that stirred Kenshin's conscious out of its useless musings. With a smile, he shifted her into the moonlight so that her face shone like his envisioned starlight, marveling at the simple way her hair fell over her face. It was simple, yet somehow extraordinary that her raven black hair could reflect any color that touched it.  
  
Maybe without knowing it or maybe he had been witness to his own mind's antics, the swordsman knew that by forcing himself through the hell, heaven awaited.  
  
Time.  
  
There would be a time where that peace he had discovered would rise from the ashes of the mountain hut like a phoenix and wing its way through his life. Somewhere in the back of his mind, the promise of returning to that soul-filling happiness hung. Covered in cobwebs as it was, it still sparkled under the moonlight of the reality he had single-handedly molded. To protect others, to devote his life to those he loved, that was his reality.  
  
He could feel the tears that had previously stung his senses trickle down the sides of his face. Hugging Kaoru even closer, nearly suffocating the girl in her slumber, Kenshin smiled up at the ceiling of his home. Could this be it? Was the present his time in the clouds of Kami-sama's paradise?  
  
Time, stars, hell, the screaming dead, heaven, Kaoru, futons, chaotic images taken from his past, peaceful visions of the future, all these thoughts and more swirled down into a spiral, at last dragging Kenshin into the whirlpool called sleep.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
A/N: Well, that was fun. Angst is fun, writing fluff is very fun, and plenty of time to write over Spring Break makes for the most fun. The next chapter is gonna be so much fun to write . . . think ep 89, "To My Angel Misao" and you've got the basic themes for the next chappy. Or am I gonna attend to Yahiko and Tsubame first? I don't know, I hope I've updated this story more by the time this is posted so that question can be answered! :P (Just got done watching the Cowboy Bebop movie, Ed's rubbing off on me.)  
  
Hope y'all liked! REVIEWS are always appreciated to let me know how I'm doin in this story. I'm having a blast regardless! 


	12. Celebrate the Wishes Made From a Girl’s ...

Don't Say it With Flowers!  
  
By Starhopper  
  
Disclaimer: Ich habe kein "claim" an dem Rurouni Kenshin. ABER, Ich habe ein "claim" zum die madchen, Midori und die yunge, Tosuke.  
  
(I love Germanglisch.)  
  
SPOILER WARNING YET AGAIN! If you haven't seen ep 89 of the tv series, then be prepared for some flashbacks to the entire "shopping in Edo" portion of the ep.  
  
YAY! Chapter 13 is something I've been WAITING to do since I started this story.  
  
Enjoy!  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
- Say it With a Celebration Part 8: Celebrate the Wishes Made From a Girl's Heart  
  
Falling asleep had been easy.  
  
Getting up proved to be more difficult.  
  
"Kenshin?" Kaoru patted a fingertip to his cheek and watched with a giggle as his eyes twitched in response. She played his name again upon her lute, applying more pressure to that same appendage, watching with interest as he turned his head in a vain effort to escape the irritation her child-like torture presented.  
  
Propping her chin upon his chest, she blew a stream of frustration through her bangs and countered the smile forming upon his lips with a characteristic, "Mou, Kenshin,"  
  
An eyelid slowly opened, the violet eye now exposed dancing with mirth. The arms limply encircling her back suddenly tightening their embrace, drawing her into a possessive hold. However, her shocked reaction was stayed as he tilted his face to meet hers, lips brushing over her forehead.  
  
"I promised," she reminded him, jabbing another finger at his face, hitting him squarely in the chin. "I can't just stay here," of course she could, but she had promised to go shopping with Misao and Megumi, if they could draw the lady-doctor away from her fiancé long enough to entreat that cinnamon gaze to prospective wedding decorations or attire.  
  
"Aa, I wish with all my heart that you could, de gozaru na," his voice was slightly rough from the hours of disuse that lay in sleep, grating through her soul and smoothing the creases like sandpaper. No matter how many times she heard it, his words, his positive recognition of himself still pleased her to no end. And the fact that he could refer to himself without degradation when he was with her and her alone made each moment that much more special.  
  
"I know," the finger slowly traced along his throat, following the perfect symmetrical line that divided him in two. She stopped at the firm muscles of his stomach and folded her arm back along her side.  
  
Reveling in this attention, her boyfriend lay contently with her coddling him so, then answered with a soft, "You go, Kaoru," the abrupt lifting of his hold sent the cold air rushing towards her waist and left her feeling detached and hanging on for something more. "You're still here, that's all that matters," he rolled over on his side, strands of his brilliant red hair falling around the futon like spun threads of fire.  
  
"Al-alright," the teenager nodded resolutely both for herself and him. "I'll go . . . really." At that last word she rose to her knees, looked to the closed shoji, back over to the sleeping and smiling ex-rurouni, back at the door once more, then threw herself over his side, right arm draped around his neck, cheek pressed to his flawless right one.  
  
"Kaoru," his tone wasn't reproving, but lingering.  
  
She hugged him closer, whispering a heart-pinning devoted, "Aishiteru," into the bound crimson silk at the base of his neck.  
  
It was at that moment that Kenshin rose himself on a hidden elbow and with a girlfriend still frozen in place, caught her lips over his shoulder in a molten kiss. Reluctantly breaking it off, a smile drew itself over his mouth, as the words, "Aa, aishiteru," formed upon them.  
  
Now sufficiently melted into a veritable puddle of goo, Kaoru leaned forward slightly, lidded eyes begging for more of this heat to be sparked within before the sun dared to warm her with its morning rays.  
  
"Aishiteru," he grinned wider, "Now go on and have a good time,"  
  
"Demo, Ken-"  
  
His own hand covered her mouth as he shook his head, "You'll be late, de gozaru,"  
  
Raising herself up, Kaoru resolutely sat back on her heels and stood, albeit a bit shakily. Without another look back at the entirely-too- satisfied male, (now back on his side and attempting to sleep) she crossed the room, slid open the shoji, and practically marched down the hall. It was only when she had secluded herself within the confines of her own room that she collapsed onto the floor in a fit of delirious laughter. Even when changing out of her warm kimono into a fresh and chilly one, the memory of how his tongue had lapped into her mouth made her knees wobble.  
  
Sometime later, the Kasshin Master was outside her home, observing the physics of such an uninteresting morning. She kicked a pebble, watched it bounce out of her way and eyed it with anything but fascination as it settled at the base of the dojo wall. Another kick and two pebbles were paired in the shadow of the division. A third jumped between the two, blowing every rock in the opposite direction of its neighbor. Her trained eyes followed each path of ascent or descent, determined not to allow herself to be bored.  
  
Because it was the only thing to do this early, short of ignoring her promise to her friends and crawling back into bed where her boyfriend promised much more entertainment, if the past hours were any indication. Crossing her arms up to her chest, the nineteen year old began to run her fingers down her arms slowly, trying to mimic the same tender caress Kenshin had delivered to them the night before. Closing her eyes, she tried to imagine him behind her now, stroking her shoulders, forearms, and elbows with that same tentative passion she'd come to expect from him. A blush tinted her cheeks as her fingers moved lower, brushing her hip and sweeping the curve of her thigh.  
  
"Should I leave you alone, Tanuki?"  
  
Kaoru whirled around angrily, the slight pale pink tint intensifying to a bold red that, she was sure, covered her entire body.  
  
Megumi stood in front of her, a smug paw covering her muzzle as she watched the younger girl turn from erotic daydreamer to that same daydreamer caught red-handed. She coughed to cover her guiltiness in drawing the girl out of her sweet dip into imagination, then tilted her head in a nod of sympathy, approaching Kaoru and settling a comforting palm against her shoulder.  
  
Looking up from attending to Kaoru, Megumi cast a wistful look in the direction of her clinic. With eyes still locked on her own fiancée, imagined from a reality that accentuated the silkiness of his hair, and smoked out his enticing scent to tantalize her nostrils. Setting her eyes to plead, Megumi caught Kaoru's eye and nearly begged, "We don't really have to go shopping today, now do we?"  
  
Kaoru took in her friend's every-day doctor attire and quipped, "From the look of your dress, you weren't planning to anyway."  
  
Megumi's muzzled scrunched as she glared a the smug Tanuki. Rapidly composing herself, the fox ran a hand through her hair and settle to finger one forelock in thought. "You never know when a life will have to be saved."  
  
With a sigh, Kaoru switched directions. All she wanted was some time with her friends and no fights of any shape or form. "Well," Kaoru was imagining similar things with her own longing, however fleeting glance in the direction of Kenshin's sunny room. "Misao is leaving soon, but if she doesn't show up, I'll - "  
  
The sound of Misao skidding to a halt on the gravel in front of them was sufficient reason to end that threat prematurely.  
  
"Ohayo Misao-chan," Kaoru nodded in acknowledgement, an edge to her voice that the ninja picked up easily.  
  
Before Megumi could convey her greeting, Misao held out a hand and proceeded to argue her case. "Mou, it's not my fault that Aoshi is incredibly strong, even asleep!" Rubbing her hand gingerly, the weasel continued. "I nearly had to chew this thing off!"  
  
"I don't want to know,"  
  
Misao's eyes glared water-fire at the doctor in embarrassment. "Not like that! We were holding hands when we fell asleep," a genki-defining smile tugged at the sides of her mouth with the memory, "It was really sweet,"  
  
Each girl paused at the youngest's admission, thoughts drifting to their significant others, eyes distant and faraway with the astral body that curled itself around their source of comfort in melted blue, hardened chestnut, and velvet violet soul-stealing depths.  
  
With a unanimous sigh and shake of their heads, the three friends tried to refocus on the real-world object at hand.  
  
Kaoru looked to Misao, "Shopping?"  
  
"Shopping?" Misao echoed back in the direction of the older woman.  
  
"Shopping." To every surprise, it was Megumi who finalized their plans with her definite statement punctuated by the period. The firm line of her mouth curled with the foxy, resounding fact, "They'll be there when we get back," setting her hands on her hips, she stared each teenager down with a somewhat matronly probing glare, a brow arching in challenge. "Shall we then?"  
  
Kaoru and Misao nearly broke down into a fit of giggles under her cinnamon gaze, "Hai,"  
  
The wind began to pick up, pushing them in the direction of Edo's shopping district as they started their trek along the river. It helped to cool and clear their minds of steam fogging up their vision.  
  
"Do you think they'll even miss us?" Misao chirped as she skipped ahead of the other women, eager to commence the spending of hard-earned money.  
  
Drawing her hands in front of her in a chaste clasp, Kaoru blushed and offered, "Kenshin's awake,"  
  
"Oh?" Megumi intoned with a knowing grin. "How did that happen?"  
  
"Not as stealthy as me, eh?" the ninja flashed a victory sign with the hand she supposedly tried to 'chew off'. Her tone switched from somewhat disappointed to determined, "I'll teach ya how to do it, don't worry,"  
  
"And when the time comes, I can too,"  
  
Kaoru's eyes narrowed and she made a flying leap to cuff Megumi over the head for THAT kind of comment, but halted as her target ducked unassumingly out of the way. Fighting for balance as she reined back a racing- adrenaline punch, the Kasshin master found herself dropping to a roll, thus absorbing the shock of the force she had purposefully packed behind the attack.  
  
"Mou, Megumi . . ." Kaoru practically snarled as Misao sprinted over to help her up. Dust and road film now speckled the bright sunshiny yellow of the kimono she had decided to wear for their day out in downtown Tokyo. "Hold still,"  
  
Her threat fell on deaf fox ears as Megumi continued to laugh the situation up for all it was worth. Continuing to walk ahead, she wagged a finger out to her side, making it visible even to the seething, and dusty Tanuki, "Now, now, it was just a simple fact . . ." Over her shoulder, she purred, "And I'm sure Sanosuke could help Ken-san for that matter,"  
  
"KENSHIN DOES NOT NEED HELP!" Now sufficiently flustered, Kaoru shook Misao off and started at a clipped run for the doctor's throat. "LEAST OF ALL FROM SANO!"  
  
"Oh?" Head turning, Megumi caught the younger girl's eye, slowed her pace, and finally pulling about face, beckoned her into a fight. "Really, and how would you know Tanuki-chan?"  
  
Kaoru arched a very indignant brow. Apparently the Tanuki remark had flown past her without her knowledge of its existence. "Chan?"  
  
"Oi!" Grabbing hold of her friend's long sleeves, Misao dug her heels into the ground and worked her little body as an anchor to stave off Megumi's certain death . . . only to find herself leaving two parallel tracks in the path in her wake. "Can't we just shop and not fi -"  
  
Both Megumi and Kaoru looked to the weasel as she was cut off by emergence of some shadows of the local yakuza blocking their path. The tall leader stepped out from behind the crowd, drawing away the flies feasting on a dead fish on the riverbank to hover over his head. Wrinkling their noses in disgust, the girls formed a line to face the thugs, ready to make the first move, but were stopped as the leader's raspy words, "And what do we have here?" wafted out of his grizzled and rotting cavity one might begrudgingly call a mouth.  
  
"Looks to me like a few dames roamin the streets," an underling supplied from his side, leering at Misao with only a too pronounced lazy eye.  
  
"My guess is they're lookin for some fellas to have a good time wit," a man with dyed green hair called out from the back of the gang. He too was grinning and licking his lips as his hands worked his plans out in the plain sight of the ninja, groping the air with gusto.  
  
Meanwhile the rest of the troop, around twelve at a head count, were picking out their favorite from the trio as the leader continued to talk about what his gang did to innocent maidens caught on the street at the wrong time of the day.  
  
Megumi flashed her teeth in a stunning fake smile, practically purring "Well, we'd like to tell you what we do for," before pausing with her head tilted, her gaze running quickly over the crowd to find suitable words to address these lowly excuses for men. Kaoru's eyes darted to the older woman's as the doctor finally settled on the right words. "Gentlemen of your caliber that happen to find us,"  
  
Misao set her face to a pout, getting into the act. "Yes," she hissed, sliding slightly to Kaoru's side for the strike. "And we're all really hard to satisfy,"  
  
"Just for finding us first," Kaoru batted her long lashes and drew her hand up to her own cheek for a sensual stroke. "We want to show our gratitude,"  
  
Both groups sprang at once, eleven against three. The leader, cowardly bastard that he was had retreated to the back of the group, smugly anticipating his boys to take down these three fragile women of the Meiji era. Four took on Misao, making a leap for each limb to hold her down. Crouching, Misao cocked a brow and at the last moment, withdrew her kunai, and shot the charging men a wicked grin. Before they knew what had hit them, they were hanging precariously from tree branches, suspended by the kunai that held them over the heads of their comrades. So ended the push for the, "Little Genki-one," as the leader called out to the other thugs.  
  
Kaoru handled the three sent her way with some muscle she'd acquired from whapping Yahiko, Kenshin, and Sanosuke over the head for their freeloading ways. When a punch was thrown her way, she ducked, delivered a feminine right hook into the attacker's stomach and swinging around to his back, kneed him in the center of his back where the spine met the hips. Two down, she handled the last with an expert elbow in the side of the ribs, and brought her clasped hands straight down on the top of his greasy head as if she were holding her true weapon of choice, her trusty bokken.  
  
At the same time, the three that were tangoing with Megumi were surprised to first meet the fists of such a delicate flower, then be introduced personally to her surprisingly able knee. Punching two square in the nose over her shoulder and placing a kick to the groin of the third, the doctor stood tall between the men rolling about on the ground in agony. With not even a hair out of place, she blew on her knuckles and shook her head in disappointment. "Mou, you guys aren't even worth our time. Much less Zanza's."  
  
That caught their attention. Every head, whether rolling without the constraints of gravity, bleeding from the nose, or seemingly knocked out with several concussions snapped straight up to look at the woman speaking so lightly of the most feared Fighter-for-hirer in the Underground.  
  
"You-you're his woman?" the leader stammered out with a slip of his torn mouth, the product of a seemingly 'stray' kunai. If possible, his face paled even more to the ill form of defeat dressed in the rags of sheer terror.  
  
Megumi set her hands on her hips, making sure her left hand was noticeable with the bright band of her engagement ring, and frowned reprovingly at each one. "Don't look so surprised."  
  
"And I suppose she's Battousai's," one of Misao's targets pointed shakily in the direction of Kaoru, who was mundanely fingering the tears in her kimono earned from the fight.  
  
"As a matter of fact,"  
  
But before Megumi could finish, another gangster had jumped up and screamed, "SHE IS! I'VE HEARD THE RUMORS! SHE'S BATTOUSAI'S ALRIGHT!" and ran in the opposite direction of the dojo just down the road where his greatest nightmare still slept entirely ignorant of the danger Kaoru had been placed in because of their raging testosterone and general jack- assedness.  
  
Now thoroughly coated in the other's thug's dust, the leader stared on in fright as Kaoru cracked her knuckles while batting her eyelashes once again. This drove half of their assailants into the woods with shrieks of "WHAT DID WE DO?!" and "HE'LL FIND US FOR SURE!" not to mention the lingering echo of "THEY SAY HE DOESN'T GIVE YOU TIME TO SCREAM!".  
  
The remaining men, some hanging in the trees afraid to disturb the kunai that kept them from tumbling into a coma, some struggling to sit up from the punches peppered over their bodies or kicks in the groin from dainty little geta, began to shake in fright as their eyes fell upon the littlest member of the trio, still crouched with her braid hanging over her left shoulder in a silent threat of whipping the next one who dared to attack . . .  
  
A clear question mark forming over the leader's head, he questioned in his raspy entirely too unpleasant voice, "And you would be?"  
  
Misao nearly face-planted, but used her hidden strength to force herself in a hunched stand, shoulders squared. "I'm Makimachi Misao, member of the Oniwabanshuu and that's all you need to know before I kick your ass!" She made to lunge, but two sets of arms around her waist proved sufficient to send her rebounding back on the ground.  
  
"Oh, I'll keep that in mind," the leader started to walk off, writing her off as a complete 'non-threat', unlike the significant others of the most feared men in Edo. He stopped and added over his shoulder, "Weasel-girl,"  
  
"Mou," Misao ceased to struggle as she let, "He's as bad as Saitou," slip out from under her breath which was still short from her effort to throttle the man who considered her threat-less.  
  
Suddenly what little black hairs the man had turned to a shocked white, and slowly turning around to face the girls, stammered out, "Sa-Saitou?"  
  
Misao perked right up and raising herself out of the arms of her friends, pulled her lips up into a genki-grin. "Uh-huh, that chief of police Saitou . . . who should be out on his rounds about now . . ." the smile widened as the leader took off at a clumsy run with arms bent and knees nearly coming up to his chest if not for his flabby gut impeding their progress. And even with this cowardly example, the man had the audacity to call out, "Follow me, those who still consider yourselves men!" as he ran like a dog who'd been hit on the nose with the bristles of a sweeping broom. Only a few followed at the same gait, the ones hanging in the trees continued to go red as the blood rushed to their heads.  
  
Kaoru looked after them with arms crossed in front of her chest. "That's all it took,"  
  
"What do you mean ALL?!" Misao demanded with eyes wide.  
  
"I have to remember that," Kaoru made a note to herself to drop Kenshin's alternate name if the occasion called for it. That might save her another kimono or two. With a thought, she glanced up to Megumi, and upon finding that the other two had started in the direction of the bridge, kicked up her heels to catch up with them. Walking three abreast, the nineteen year old finally asked, "Is that why you recalled Sano's other name?"  
  
The doctor closed her eyes and smirked. With a conceding nod she looked ahead at the bridge now crowded with passerby and marketers already making their way to sell their wares. "That and he told me to mention it if I was ever in danger," and added, "Cocky Tori-atama that he is," with a shake of her head.  
  
"But it saved us then," Misao had to comment sadly. "Not that his name took out eleven thugs beforehand,"  
  
"True," holding up her ring finger, the older woman smiled to herself as the morning sun streaked across the polished gold band. "I'll have to thank him for that,"  
  
A unanimous rolling of the eyes commenced on behalf of Misao and Kaoru as the fox ears popped out and Megumi was overtaken by a fit of character- defining laughter.  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^**^*^*^*  
  
"Where to first?" Kaoru asked Misao as Megumi busied herself to the side with price-checking some fine white silk produced specifically for wedding kimonos.  
  
Misao's eyes were alight as always when surrounded by potential gifts for the other members of the Aoiya or possessions for herself. Then a memory flared to heated life as she spotted a group of giggling girls pushing each other up the steps of the temple, goading themselves to make a wish on the fountain within. A thoughtful smile touched her lips before grabbing the sleeves of Kaoru from her side, and Megumi, who was deep in thought about saving extra yen by buying the fabric in a bolt and reselling the extra to make some extra money for herself soon found herself being dragged along behind the sprinting ninja.  
  
"It's been nearly a year since we visited the fountain." She explained as she stopped abruptly behind the giggling gaggle of young girls, nearly throwing Megumi and Kaoru around her sides and into a head-on collision with the other.  
  
"Aa," Kaoru shook herself off, smoothing some hair back into place and fluffing up her ribbon before even looking at the fountain. "And I have many thanks to give as well as wishes to make,"  
  
The other women were following her example, as well as turning an ear to the discussion the group of girls were having ahead of them.  
  
"C'mon Midori, just say it,"  
  
Kaoru quaked with suppressed laughter as Midori's friend lied with a wag of a finger, "And say it out loud, or it won't come true,"  
  
The girl being shoved to the lip of the fountain shook her head furiously, blushing with just as much intensity as she dug her heels into the stone floor. Unfortunately this did not stop her progress.  
  
"Just say it," she was prompted again.  
  
Giving in, Midori nodded with a shy, "H-Hai," and pulled her hands up from their submissive position against her chest to a shaky prayer.  
  
"I wish to have my first kiss with Tosuke-sama,"  
  
Glancing in Misao's direction, the Kasshin Master caught the younger girl blushing at the honorific, her mind no doubt swimming with memories of how she worshipped Shinomori Aoshi.  
  
"Midori-chan?" A boy a little older than Yahiko, but with hair just as wild stopped his walk by the temple to stare up at the now bright red girl, desperately trying to lean back into her friends and somehow melt into them as if she were invisible. Her friends refused to move and continued to giggle madly like the innocents that they were.  
  
Now thoroughly engrossed in the drama unfolding before them like a good production of Kabuki theater, all three women followed the interaction between Midori and the boy who must be her much-adored Tosuke.  
  
"Midori-chan?" the boy questioned again with uncertainty, walking up the steps to stand before the shy girl.  
  
"Ha-Hai?" She replied, trying to hide behind the sleeve drawn in front of her face.  
  
Tosuke's bold hand reached up and drew it away; keeping a tentative hold on the small wrist he had caught. With a blush he smiled and nodded slightly, painfully unsure of how to handle such a moment.  
  
The very second he asked her to join him on a walk, Megumi, Kaoru, and Misao both released the breath they had been holding for Midori. And once the two had wandered out of the curious gazes of friends and strangers alike, the group before them had parted in separate directions. One girl's eyes threatened tears as she tore through the crowd meandering around the open part of the temple where the fountain was located.  
  
"Aww," Misao looked after her until the girl ducked back into the stream of passerby. "I bet Midori's wish was hers too,"  
  
"Well," Megumi sighed, taking this little breath of cultural air in deeply. "I guess it's our turn. Do you want me to push one of you up to the fountain?"  
  
Kaoru turned her nose up and walked up to the edge, fingers already steepled beneath her chin. "I can walk very well, thank you."  
  
Misao skipped to the edge and copied her friend with the exception that her eyes were wide open, still thinking of Midori and her Tosuke-sama. Megumi stepped up into place aside her, head bowed so that her bangs covered her eyes so that the ninja couldn't register what emotions she had.  
  
"First thanks," Kaoru whispered aloud, her lips tightening in prayer, but her cheeks reddened and she almost giggled. Oh yes, her feelings had crossed over to Kenshin, and his own had dripped into crystal clarity with that first fleeting kiss he had given her so many months ago by the river. Briefly she wondered if the fountain had anything to do with it, but shaking her head, decided it better to not question fate, even her fate. Love was is its most elemental form after all. To ensure its continuity, there was only one other wish to make.  
  
'Allow me to make Kenshin the happiest man in the world.' Kaoru smiled as she wished this with every measurable amount of energy jumping from her heart.  
  
Misao felt herself drifting on a sea of clouds, astral eyes wide open but in reality they remained respectively shut. Kami-sama, as she was sure he would know, she had seen Aoshi's true smile. The one he had on his face when he wanted to talk to her, or kiss her, or just hold her to assure himself that everything was all right and would always be right as long as he left his heart open to her. Yes, but after seeing this true smile light his face so many times, she was starting to wonder where his false one was hiding. Without a separate one to compare it with, Aoshi's smile was just that, his own, true and undaunting. Her mind snagged on the fake or absent smile that had suddenly taken leave of her boyfriend, Misao sunk back into her feet and bowed her head even lower.  
  
'Please allow me to keep Aoshi-anata smiling, now that I've seen his true smile.' Mentally, the weasel winked up to the heavens. 'Arigatou for that one.'  
  
Now it was Megumi's turn. To everyone's surprise, the reverent doctor suddenly dropped to her knees, throwing herself at the base of the fountain, elbows bent and forehead on the cold ground. Her long hair covered her face, pooling around her shoulders in a silky screen to hide the grateful tears trailing down from the corners of her eyes as she swallowed and thanked the merciful Kami-sama.  
  
'Who knew it was possible?' she thought with just as much fury as if she was screaming it to the world, which she would have done had it not been a SILENT prayer. 'After all the games we played, words exchanged, he felt the same way I did!' Thoughts careening together, the words spilled out of her astral mouth. However, no matter how slurred they were, the tone of utter thankfulness wasn't missed. 'Arigatou for giving me another chance.' Eyes snapping open to see nothing but the dark familiarity of her hair and the gravel below her nose, Megumi felt her heart pull away from her ribs as she prayed in earnest.  
  
'Please, allow us to have a life together. Let us both have the joy we deserve." She knew that if she lost Sanosuke, her faith in love would shrivel like a dry leaf in the flame of a night fire. Like it had after Kanryuu.  
  
Standing up with a fresh, clear countenance, Megumi was surrounded by the curious gazes of Kaoru and Misao. The youngest even asked, "And what were you so thankful for?"  
  
Flashing them a smile, the doctor rose her fists in such a celebratory way, that reminded the other girls of Sanosuke instead of his intended. After a quick pause, Megumi screamed, "Yatta! That baka tori-atama finally got a brain!"  
  
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*  
  
A/N: Oh boy, this story is winding down unfortunately, but don't worry, it'll end on a nice note . . . citrus in flavor perhaps . . . and maybe I'll leave the ends loose enough to tie in a sequel.  
  
*evil grin* hee hee hee  
  
THANKS to Reverie-sama for pointing out the trust factor Kenshin has placed in Kaoru. I was going for that, but you articulated it so well in your review, that I went back and added in the morning vignette to show his relief that she was still there unlike Tomoe *coughicequeencough*. It added such wonderful dimension that screamed both their characters, so yeah, THANK YOU so very much. And it also saved Kenshin from more torture . . . which was recycled into sweetness and a dip into writing 'pretty Ken' vs. 'warrior Ken'.  
  
And whatsmore . . . I liked it.  
  
Thanks to all who have reviewed and kept me going. I've never really wanted to quit, but a quick glance at my wonderful reviews you guys have left me certainly kept up the motivation I'm in sore need of between College and life in general.  
  
REVIEWS are appreciated, encouraged, and never frowned upon!  
  
^_^ Thanks so much! 


	13. Celebrate the Frustrations of Being in L...

Don't Say it With Flowers!  
  
By Starhopper  
  
Disclaimer: I . . . don't . . . own . . . a . . . blasted . . . thing!  
  
Ah, 18 credits are killers aren't they? Each one is like a nail on the coffin of progress I could be making on my stories. I'm actually writing this story for breaks between problematic history papers (Oh well, there's only two more left) and reading literature.  
  
- Say it With a Celebration Part 9: Celebrate the Frustrations of Being in Love  
  
Sano sneezed again and glared balefully at his beloved's side of the bed.  
  
Damn Megumi.  
  
About an hour ago, she had quietly disentangled herself from his embrace. Through the slit of his chestnut eye, Sanosuke had watched his fiancée dress down into her working clothes. She then bent down over the low table and pulled her purse free from its place in the pages of a medical book. However, after she had turned out the door, he watched her head bob up and down before the windowsill as if on her way to the Kamiya dojo. Shrugging, he had guessed that the girls were getting together for something, and with this sudden sneezing fit, he was now completely sure that his fox was talking about him.  
  
"Ah," he coughed as he rolled over onto his back, loving the way he could laze about their bed without being reprimanded for once. "Let her talk about me," He couldn't care one way or another if she berated his habits, or insulted his intelligence. It was all for show anyway. A smug smile drifted across his features. He knew she loved everything about him. From his mussed hair to the charming turn of phrase he could spin for her ears alone.  
  
She had certainly let him know that on more occasions than could be recounted.  
  
"I suppose I should get up," he continued with a yawn, accompanied by a stretch that pulled every muscle taught to their breaking point. "But then again,"  
  
Then again he could just stay here. The sun wasn't shining at its brightest horizon yet, the birds were just barely singing, and to make matters all the more delightful, he didn't have any pressing engagements at the local gambling alleys. There was absolutely no reason for him to get up. It had been quite along, long time that he had awoken by himself and been allowed such a luxury like this. Nope, there was no nagging woman batting at his nose, or tugging at his ear. Nor was the smell of a meal waiting to be wolfed down wafting through the door.  
  
"I wonder what Jou-chan and Kenshin are up to?" questioning the ceiling, Sano started to raise himself off the futon and set his sights on the interesting scenery his stomach was painting before his eyes. A tray filled with dumplings, fresh vegetables, and rice balls suddenly materialized in his mind, and sent him tumbling out of the sheets to get dressed. He was even anticipating the quarrel with Yahiko over Kenshin's expertly rolled onigiri.  
  
Across the way, the redhead in question still had a pleased smile plastered over his face as he snuggled into the futon on his side. It had felt right to kiss her the way he had. After all, his shishou had always stressed that an attack was to have the element of surprise, and thus his baka deshi was left clinging to the last imprint of his opponent's ki after execution was underway. That had always scared Kenshin to his wits end. But never before had not reading his 'opponent' caused such a delightful feeling of self-assurance. At the moment that his tongue had tasted her lips, he had no idea what his 'opponent' was thinking or feeling. For the first time in his life, all he knew was what his heart hesitantly whispered to him as if in fear of being caught by his strategic mind. And he had listened, obeyed, and fully enjoyed Kaoru's reaction to the tender advance.  
  
The smile suddenly fell as his mind awoke fully to the danger he was placing himself in by lying unprotected in an easily accessible futon like this. "I don't deserve this," he murmured so low that he hoped his heart would not hear the admission. "De gozaru na." Calculating purple eyes grazed his trusty sakabatou propped against the wall not five feet away. Would he be able to reach it in time if 'they' were to attack from the porch? He could surely make a grab for it if 'they' decided to use the door, but that would just be foolish on 'their' part.  
  
Kenshin rose suddenly on his left elbow and shook his head. No, he wasn't in danger. But he heard a small word of doubt uttered from his subconscious in disbelief. No, that wasn't right either. He WAS constantly in danger. In danger of not being able to protect the innocent, in danger of killing, in danger of accidentally killing the woman he lov-  
  
The swift sound of a slap echoed about the ex-rurouni's room.  
  
"Sessha is losing," Kenshin directed another palm to his already bruised cheek. "No, -I- am losing it, de gozaru." His eyes softened to the melting point as he whispered, "But she stayed. I will not lose her," his head sinking between his shoulders loosened a knot of his crimson strands and spilling over his shoulder, his hair provided the privacy curtain needed for his tears to fall.  
  
"Kaoru deserves it," he sobbed into the darkness clouded by visions of snow bleeding with freshly spilt blood. "Kaoru says I deserve it – no, her." As his soul continued to split in two, Kenshin fought off the foreboding images resulting from his guard being smothered down into the comfort of the futon. It would happen when he was sleeping, a scream – Kaoru's scream – would waken him and as he sprinted from such a prone position, he would be overtaken by the image of his beloved's throat cut open, Yahiko's stomach gutted by a knife, and over their bodies, his undoer would be smirking. The blade would flip and Kenshin would renounce his life of non- killing. He'd head back into obscurity with the title of Battousai again.  
  
"IIE!" he finally screamed, sufficiently silencing every voice in his head that had suddenly grown to a large din within his cranium. Another command of "ENOUGH!" pushed any dark thoughts from drowning the brightness that was his new experience of love.  
  
Raising his head, Kenshin smiled at the idea of Kaoru slipping into his room, arms open wide to comfort him like she had last night. It was so much to hold onto, he felt it slipping from his grip at every moment he had alone. He hated it more than he hated his alter ego.  
  
After a moment of silence, the questions started drilling through his head again. A certain amber-eyed character's voice rose hissing high over the others with a piercing edge of doubt.  
  
'You'll never be able to escape the past. You killed, you'll kill again.'  
  
Sessha does not kill. He'll never hurt the one he loves.  
  
'You'll never be able to accept the past. You killed, you'll kill again.'  
  
He had no answer. It was true; Tomoe's death had been branded into his soul as the one mistake he could never truly move over. He was caught, made lame by the memory of the feel and smell of her blood bleeding into the pure freshness of the snow. Running a finger down the line of his yukata, he could imagine the blood caked on it. Tomoe's blood, the nationalists', and anyone who got in the way of his intended target's.  
  
'You'll kill her. It will happen again. A hitokiri is a hitokiri until the day he dies. You can't escape the past, you can't accept it, you're doomed to live in it. To fight in it. To die in it. Wallow in it pathetic man, you can do no less. '  
  
That was when Kenshin knew this discussion had to end. It had worked before with his fight with Saitou, so swallowing, he shut Battousai up the only way he knew how. The same fingers that traced her outline so many times curled into his palm and met the space between his eyes in a flash. Now, a peaceful man commiserating over his fate abruptly replaced the twenty-nine year old blubbering into the futon he had slept in for the first time in ten years.  
  
Taking a cleansing breath, Kenshin tossed his hair back to hang down his spine. Sitting there, he unwittingly called forth memories of how his hair had fallen over Tomoe, built dreams of how it would ripple over Kaoru. Such softness in the visage of liquid fire. And yet, with its own assassin strength, his tresses had broken free during his fight with Saitou, dripped over his shoulders and reminded him with a touch that the past existed no matter how he tried to outrun it or cover for it.  
  
By firelight, by moonlight . . . the new fallen snow . . .  
  
Kenshin shook his head again and sat up, running a tentative finger along the top-most scar that crossed over the first. "No. She stayed." And with that sobering thought, he rose to his feet to dress in his rurouni clothes and once the hakama was tied over the gi, padded out the door to get some air as he walked to the kitchen.  
  
The form of Aoshi meditating in the garden stopped the ex-hitokiri from his meandering journey of self-reflection. Perched precariously on a stone, the ninja whispered words evoking the harmony and balance required to keep sanity.  
  
Within the guarded frame of his old enemy, Kenshin identified a lost soul similar to his own. It was a spirit always searching, always wary, always fumbling for peace between two halves. The past and the present, saving the death of his comrades and slaying the lives of countless innocents. What man had Aoshi been before? A mechanic killer stilled only by the beauty of a single flower he called strength.  
  
There really was no difference between killers, as Battousai had once believed.  
  
There was no difference between those who had – been – killers, as Himura Kenshin now acknowledged with a step in Aoshi's direction.  
  
Lids fluttered at the sudden crunch of grass under Kenshin's sandals, revealing clear sky-blue eyes that regarded the Battousai with no hint of unease. He was a guest in this man's house after all.  
  
He nodded in the redhead's direction. "Good morning," Aoshi greeted in his usual monotone. "And what brings you out here so early in the morning, Battousai?"  
  
Under the cover of the rurouni grin, Kenshin shrugged off his other name and composed his own sanity to a neat little non-killing package. "Ah, Sessha enjoys a walk in the garden soon after the sun rises de gozaru yo. What about you?"  
  
"Ah," Aoshi leaned back on the rock and swung his legs out in front of him. "Misao left early this morning. There was no need to lounge about."  
  
"Sessha found himself in a similar situation de gozaru," Kenshin continued to study the imposing figure, and found to his surprise that Aoshi appeared to be wavering between chiseling either a nervous smile or a clearly marked frown in his granite features. Still wearing the silly, non-slaying grin, Kenshin continued, "It's hard to let them go, de gozaru," He still wanted Kaoru to come home and offer sanctuary. Just holding her would keep his demons away. Even the ones of winter.  
  
Aoshi blinked and whispered, "Aa," before taking to stand at his full height, peering down at the short man with a good-natured almost fraternal awareness of his height. If Kenshin didn't know any better, he could have sworn Aoshi winked. But it probably was just the light playing tricks on his eyes. "But we must let them go,"  
  
"Or else they're sure to drive us crazy," Both men looked behind them to find Sanosuke strutting around the corner. His hair still retained the silky volume that Megumi had created with the replacement of shampoo for the block of lard. However, it seemed to suit a man who was happy, in love, and more than elated to show both off.  
  
"Eh, Shinomori?" Sano cracked a grin over the stalk of straw clenched between his teeth. And in turn, Aoshi shot the man a glare that could liquefy steel.  
  
The grin vanished mysteriously. It was clear there would be no talk of Misao while in Aoshi's presence. Least of all from the man who had made and continued to make fun of her for the traits her boyfriend loved most.  
  
"Eh," Sano glanced at Kenshin for help.  
  
"Sano," Kenshin's voice was reproving, but lightened with a shake of his head. "Let him be." The violet eyes caught those of the Okashira pointedly. "It isn't often that Aoshi-dono can relax into a friendly conversation, de gozaru na."  
  
This time the slight nod in the ex-rurouni's direction was caught without sun-caused confusion. Kenshin didn't even need the gesture to know Aoshi appreciated and thanked him for understanding. Chi. It was a strangely wonderful thing. And like always and ever before, Kenshin's reading of Aoshi's cautious and distrustful aura had been correct. There was so much fear for the future, fear of himself, and fear for the life he placed above his own. In that moment, the battered soul of Shinta looked into Shinomori Aoshi's eyes and saw himself reflected from their depths. They both understood the turmoil shared by knowing the dual heartbeat of war-driven madness that thrummed against the pacifist's kind ways.  
  
You see Battousai? There is no difference, no difference at all.  
  
The nod of self-approval given by the magenta-clad man startled the other two males into changing whatever subject had dragged their friend into such a thoughtful state.  
  
"So, Kenshin. What's for breakfast?"  
  
. . . . . . . . . .  
  
"So Misao, how have those exercises I prescribed been working out?"  
  
Cutting the noodles with her front teeth, the shinobi in question let them splash into the beef bowl and swallowed what was left of her lunch. She smiled with a blush and said, "Oh, I think you can tell."  
  
Megumi paused, setting a lady-like finger to her bottom lip and looked the seventeen-year-old over. "No, really. Any progress?"  
  
Kaoru's shoulders sunk, and she settled her sights on the sponge cake sitting despondently in the rum sauce in front of her. As soon as the color in her friend's cheeks blushed to a stubborn disappointment, she hunched her shoulders around her ears and prepared for a pint-sized Fuji to erupt.  
  
"PROGRESS?!" Misao jumped to her feet, her food forgotten. "There is no progress to be made!" With no thought to embarrassing herself in public, she cupped her own breasts and shoved them up to her neck in the futile effort to show off cleavage. The only problem was, what was definitely there could not be seen through the Oniwabanshuu uniform.  
  
Kaoru only shook her head as Megumi's ensuing chortles were over-ridden by Misao's efforts to shut her up.  
  
"Ah, forget it," the doctor waved off the youngest member of their entourage, finding the fun had been drained out of the battle without the Tanuki sticking her snout into the conversation. "I was hoping to draw Kaoru out of her stupor over there anyway,"  
  
The maiden in question glanced up and narrowed her eyes. "What do you want with me?"  
  
Taking a lock of hair into her fingers, Megumi placed a frown on her face that drew the attention of several men in the restaurant. She knew that if her betrothed had been there, he would have been driven equally crazy by the sensual pout of displeasure.  
  
As for Kaoru, she read the look as the fox's bow to play a little game.  
  
"You're trying to make me lose my temper." The Kasshin master breathed evenly. "Why?"  
  
Misao relaxed as the memories of the reserved doctor breaking down at the wishing fountain replaced the visage of this woman acting like her typical- vixen self now. "Come to think of it, why are you picking a fight with Kaoru-chan all of a sudden?"  
  
Putting her chin in her palm, Kaoru leaned over the table and grinned. "Yes Megumi-san, why?"  
  
Megumi leaned back, countering her friend's elbow-on-the-table with an inspection of her split ends. "I have no idea what you're both talking about." She rolled her eyes after the obvious lie, embarrassed at her own lame excuse.  
  
Misao flashed a grin similar to the one she forewarned her enemies with right before she thoroughly kicked their ass while Kaoru merely continued to lean in on the fox's personal bubble.  
  
Fiddling with her hair, Megumi stayed their looks of inquiry with a glare of her own. "Doesn't getting engaged for the se – first time warrant some changes of behavior?" Flustered, the doctor continued to spout reasons without pause for an answer. "Aside from the clinic, I now have added stress, a cocky fiancé, and to make matters worse - "  
  
"You're a bold-faced liar." Misao stated coldly from her corner near the window of the trendy restaurant. Even the fearsome flash of cinnamon fire wasn't enough to melt the unusual ice-coating her eyes.  
  
"I'm not lying!" Megumi hissed indignantly. "I'm just not telling the entire truth, nor would I want to."  
  
Kaoru's ears alone heard the remorseful downturn in the woman's voice. It almost bit off the end of her sentence before her cool repose could muzzle it. She held a hand out to placate her other friend. "Misao, let her be,"  
  
The itachi's head turned, mouth agape with ocean-set eyes wide and disbelieving. "Why leap to her defense all of a sudden?" she snapped with little weasel jaws. "Isn't she a past rival for Himura's - "  
  
"Yes she was," Kaoru answered her friend with a bold tone of curtness. Turing her sapphire eyes to the fox, she continued, "But the times have changed. At least for the rest of us it has."  
  
The side tresses so elegantly flanking Megumi's cheeks swung belligerently as the doctor slammed her fists on the table, "And just what do know about it?" This time the lady-like demeanor was completely lost on the twenty- three year old. "Don't I deserve happiness for once in my life? Or is that only reserved for the young girls who pine over their hero and make them the reason for life and love?" Sending a predatory gaze at both girls who sat across from her, Megumi decided on attacking Misao first. "Did all your years of idolizing Shinomori tear away such pain and agony then that you can't stand to think of him at all now? Of course not, because what you felt was allowed to grow into something more damaging. If he left you now, you'd block him from your memory to save yourself the pain." Without pause, her blurry vision leapt from Misao to Kaoru. She had no idea that tears, hot and angry at being confined for so long, were slurring her words and rushing her speech.  
  
"And you," Kaoru could not help but narrow her eyes at that accusatory tone. "You found such completeness early in life. Have you ever once thought that it can be taken just as easily as it's given? As strong and strong-willed as Ken-san is, he eventually will lose. And then where will you be? Can you survive without your protector? Do you see how it's so easy to sell yourself out just to know that the hope you have at surviving as a woman and an individual is at least existent?" Slamming her fist against the wood counter spiked more of her frustration and she let it out with a near shrill scream that drew all eyes from every corner of the restaurant on her shaking form.  
  
"Just this once I deserve it, some time for a life of my own and a life with somebody who won't go down without a fight. Who'll protect – me – every chance he has and won't use me and slap me aside like I've been countless times before."  
  
Both Kaoru and Misao shared a glance between themselves before turning it to the sobbing and curled form of the woman who they believed to be the strongest of them all. And she was still strong in their eyes as she stood and raised her head high, red-eyed and wet-faced.  
  
"If you'll excuse me," and without an answer, Megumi walked out of the restaurant, her back arched just as exquisitely as ever before and chin held staunchly still from its quivering. It was only after she'd staggered a yard down the street that she leaned into the wall of some building and sliding down its surface, let loose the tears she'd held at bay.  
  
"Sanosuke," she gasped, the struggle to keep herself together proving too difficult. With a hand over her mouth and the ground beneath her turning into a iridescent, oily mess before her very eyes, she coughed, "I'm sorry," before pulling her knees to her chest and settling into a little pile of self – loathing.  
  
. . . . . . . . .  
  
A/N: Ok, I know what you're all thinking, but the authors of those 94 reviews and any readers reading now have had faith in me before, and I promise all will be explained soon. (There's only a few chapters left anyway . . . and maybe an epilogue.) I also will apologize for turning this story a little Sano/Meg centric, or at least Megumi-centric. My fascination with her character and her mysterious past have crept into my story, but hopefully, I'm balancing angst for angst with Kenshin's dilemma.  
  
Thanks for reading and if you feel so inclined, drop a REVIEW. Number 100 gets a little something special!  
  
Starhopper 


	14. An Impartial Party

Don't Say it With Flowers!

By Starhopper

Disclaimer: Nope, nu-uh, nothing, natta, zippo, SHIPPOU! (Hee hee, I've got my rhyming dictionary open now )

I sincerely apologize for the length of update between the last chapters. Summer is something I've been looking forward to since my parents drove off and left me in the dust of Ellensburg. Of course, I was there to pursue a higher education, (and I have, I'm technically a junior now by credits and next year is my "sophomore" year) so I didn't mind, but having a mind full of stress for the last nine months was a little too much. So when I returned home and finally got around to redesigning my room like I had planned to the summer before, I took advantage of being at home and enjoying the closeness of family and friends. I'm also getting into shape and yesterday I just braved a ropes course THIRTY-FIVE FEET off the ground in the treetops.

But conquering my fear of falling off of teeny-tiny cables (And I got right back on – thank the gods for the harness) does not deter me from my quest to finish this fic. It's getting there, and thank you all for having faith in me. And now, to all who know and/or love that baka friend of Sano's from back in the good 'ole days of the Sekihoutai and current (at least in the story) editor and creator of his own freedom-fighting underground newspaper, I present to thee:

Tsukioka Katsuhiro . . . because he's cute with that long teal hair of his. ;)

. . . . .

- An Impartial Party

Pursing his lips, the editor had fully intended on whistling a soft tune for only his ears to hear. It was one of those days that just begged for a song. The wind was welcoming, pulling at his mind like a spider at its spun silk. Only the silk was his sheer happiness at being an accomplished young man. Music of any kind could illumine the greater highlights of an afternoon spent pouring over type-settings. Aside from the tension headache beating at the corners of his eyes, the teal-haired twenty-one year old felt surprisingly healthy and fully aware of his young years. Freed from his economical duties, he was now a hungry man about town and looking for something to fill the empty pit growing where his full stomach should be. A song would surely divert his thoughts from partaking in some sake and beef bowls to just enjoying the life he'd created for himself.

That had been the plan until he spotted the melted figure of a woman who, painfully slumped against the wall, would receive his little song as a snide rebuke. Why sing when he could ask her what's wrong or even offer a hand to help? Then again, she could be a drunk, or a prostitute . . . though the robes she wore were those of a woman with some social standing. Maybe a wife of a well-to-do businessman thrown out by a not-so gracious husband?

As he conjectured thoughts about this mysterious woman's identity, the object of his inspection stirred from a dust-choked position in the dirt. Her hair dripped like liquid onyx over her shoulders as she rose to a crouch and upon gently dusting off her hips, cast brilliant cinnamon eyes to the sky. The reveal of such a tearful pout, water-stained porcelain cheeks, and drained complexion was lost to the crowd of passerby. Chatting and running through the streets, the ignorant peasants addressed one another with smiles and struts of how contemporary they were in action. In the corner, the woman invoked everything nostalgic, like she was raising herself in a cloud of mist that had long since dissipated.

The look grabbed a hold of the editor's heart, unwittingly dragging a memory from the backroom of his life-experience. For he had seen such a face in the river. It had only been a fleeting glance, thrown haphazardly as he ran to beat his old friend to the bridge nearly a year ago. That was the night of reconciliation and great planning for the end of the era ran by the Imperialists.

Shaking his head, the young man began his approach with a soft step so as not to startle her. If there was one thing that he remembered about – that – look, it was it had to be wiped off the person's face as quickly as possible before they did something potentially damaging. Either to themselves or their friends.

"Excuse me," skipping up his pace, the editor ran to face her and bending at the waist, he tried to peer directly into her eyes, "Miss?"

At that moment the pieces of the puzzle crashed into place. Her black hair was glazed in a pale chestnut that highlighted the slightly slanted Bristol eyes. A tiny birthmark marked her right cheek, dotting the outer-most 'i' of a potential smile, and drew the eye inadvertently into her gaze. It was a natural call to command, to obey, and most importantly to behave.

Subconsciously he took a step back and prepared to dodge any flailing attacks that might come his way. The doctor had a tendency to act out from her subdued demeanor. Apparently she had taken out a Yakuza or three with just a piece of hard bread. AND she had also sent Sanosuke to the floor with anything-but a girlish slap. Oh yes, he could recall many stories the idiot had related to him about this femme fatale.

Due to this forethought, his manhood remained intact when the woman's dainty knee attempted to make contact. However, the move only sent her stumbling forward into his arms. Countering her weight, he caught her at the shoulders and shook her slightly before she could dig her nails into his neck.

"Takani-sensei," his words were rich with recognition. Sure, he hadn't seen her in nearly six months, but the woman with vixen jaws proved a hard figure to forget. Or argue with. "It's me, Katsu,"

With a violent shake of her head, Megumi tried once more to work her way out of his firm grip. She lifted her hands to his shoulders and tried to push him away from her. Grinding her heel into his toe, the editor soon found himself carrying on a little step-dance with the doctor, she stomping, he evading every furious foot. Without noticing it, Megumi had marched him to the other wall of the alley and slammed Katsu's back against the brick. Along with the breath that left his lungs under the pressure, the admission of "I'm Sano's friend," was forced out.

The name instantly loosened her fingers from bruising his shoulders and Megumi drew back into the shell she'd been rocking in. "Did he send you here?" was all Katsu could make out between the shivers and chattering of her perfect teeth. The signs were completely recognizable. Aside from the sudden outbreak of tremors, the doe-eyed expression completely gave away her total lack of apprehension. This was no fear. She was ready to spring like a cornered animal who had seen a possible escape route between its pursuer's legs.

This was sheer terror.

"San-o-su-ke," the artist approached the name with some trepidation, nodding occasionally to bring her out of whatever nightmare she was living. "Sagara Sanosuke did not send me here. I found you. Are you alright?" Katsu's inner-voice rolled its eyes at that last question. It was obvious that she wasn't.

Slowly righting herself, Megumi regarded the other man impassively as she let the waters of perception raise her to reality's surface. At last she stood straight, back arched and balance steady. When she answered him, her words were soft and chastising. "Of course I'm alright," though the way she tugged on sleeve spoke otherwise. Eyes still darting from her kimono to the ground, she laughed her own admission of, "Katsuhiro-san, what kind of question is that?"

Rubbing his stomach, the Sekihoutai member now placed a smile on his face that could only be described as smug. "It's a question that needs to be asked since you tried to make me flat-footed . . . permanently." Seeing no interest or embarrassment flash over her face, Katsu crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall. His eyes went to the space between roof and sky. "Why haven't you told Sano?"

- That - got her attention. Megumi's gaze scored the green over-gi, then burned holes into the writer's yukata worn underneath. If looks could kill, his entire ensemble would be reduced to ashes under her scorching glare, with his bare bones acting as support beams. "How did you - "

"I didn't," he threw a cool glance over at her, "But now I do." Pushing himself off the wall, he approached her. "And because that idiot is a good friend of mine, you're gonna tell me."

"What makes you think I'm going to do anything of the sort?" she jutted her chin in defiance, working her lower jaw in exasperation. "You have no power over me,"

"No man does," Katsu listened to that nagging inner-voice and dove head-first with a gut-instinct. The way she refused to listen to him had alerted him to a very possible reason for her behavior. He'd seen it in women who were reduced to slumming through the underworld. Disgusted with the sex who had abused them, they began to create new relations with their own. Prostitution pleasured not only the men on those occasions. The young, albeit effeminate man could only guess as to why he had gotten through to Megumi so quickly if that were the case. As an afterthought, he added, "Not even me," in a statement that was meant to assure her.

Grabbing at a lock of her hair, Megumi started to inspect the split-ends. It was a habit she'd had ever since she could remember. OR didn't want to remember. Snorting over the fact, she narrowed her eyes, sliding her corneas his way. "Do you want to try?" In fair warning, she cracked the knuckles on the hand that was holding her tresses.

Katsu drew his hands into his sleeves and fingered the last two explosives he kept for emergencies. He couldn't deny that a part of him wanted to take on the challenge, but he also knew that Sanosuke would not be too pleased with a one-armed friend or possibly something worse. Looking her over one more time, he noticed her finger rimmed by a gold band. The pieces of the puzzle suddenly shattered. Friendship was one thing, engagement was quite another.

"I don't think Sano would be too happy if I blew up his fiancée," He reflected her look of astonishment and redirected it to the ring on her finger. "Did you think it would be hard for someone who knows that idiot as well as I do to figure it out?"

Appearing to weigh this thought on her already stress-laden nerves, Megumi nodded and looked back at him with a small smile. It would have been easily missed if not for the tiny sparkles alighting the corner of each eye. She then pulled more hair over her shoulder and cast a critical gaze at the editor.

"Do you think blackmail scares me? Please Katsuhiro-san,"

"I made no such proclamation sensei," His tone was apologetic and sincere, as were his eyes. "I merely stated how much I know,"

"Which is more than you should know," she bluffed haughtily, tossing some strands of hair over her shoulder now that she was done playing with the ends.

"Embarassed of your future husband?"

"No," caught in his conversational current, Megumi whispered: "Not embarrassed, just hopeful for,"

"Ah," Katsu mused, grinning like a fool. That idiot had sure picked the perfect match to lay down a gamble for. Lay all your bets on this one, Higishidani, I couldn't have done any better myself. "You see it too then?"

"What should I see?" her tone was still critical, patiently guarding herself from an attack.

He sat himself on the ground, primitively handing full advantage of height to her as slunk smaller and smaller down the wall. "I mean, you do see his potential then?"

"Of course I do,"

"Then why do you run?" Of course he knew the reason for her fear. Obviously his importance in her life had been entirely unexpected from her end.

"I run because I have no where else to go. I run because I'm wary,"

"Like the Kitsune he calls you," Katsu eyed her from his sunken position, "you truly are a fox."

"He's spoken of me?" try as hard as she might, Megumi couldn't cut out the sly, girlishly-taken tone in her voice. The curiosity and flattery got even the best of her at the worse times.

"Not exactly of you as you stand before me now, but yes. On occasion. You tended to his wounds, I don't think you know how much that means to someone like us."

She snorted derisively. "Tended? I'm a doctor, I didn't start out doing it with the kindest of hearts." Of course, it had spiraled into a friendship, relationship, and soul-extending love. But she had begun with a nice, immaculate patient-doctor standing.

"No, you started with a heart sincerely grateful for keeping it beating." He nodded his head, eying her as she did him without a hanging jaw of disbelief. "Don't look at me like that, he's a braggart when it comes to his personal valor. And saving your life is up there on his short list of lifetime achievements."

Her chin started to quiver, and Katsu quickly coughed before she herself realized how much Sanosuke meant to her past.

"But then again, getting him to wisen up to the adult world is one of yours. Every single one of us who knows that idiot is grateful for what you've done. As I'm sure he's just as grateful for you being there for him." He swallowed and held up his hands in pure innocence. "That's just a friend's perception mind you."

"K - "

"Careful."

Both steady gazes were tossed over to the bristling itachi and the equally distraught Tanuki-girl standing at the alley entrance. This only added to the friction passing between blue, teal, and Bristol eyes.

"Megumi-san, careful," Misao warned once more, before recognition dawned upon Kaoru's face.

"Wait Misao," she hushed her friend's whines as she walked over to kneel in front of the editor. "It's Sano's newspaper friend, Tsukioka Katsuhiro."

"Tori-atama's friend? All the more reason to kunai his ass,"

"Misao-chan!"

"Tori-atama," Megumi repeated his name thoughtfully, paying no attention to her friends' intrusion. Instead, she shook her head and forced a hard stare down Katsu's throat. Pushing Kaoru lightly aside, she came to sit in her place.

"Sensei?" His tone even, Katsu found himself amazed at how he was holding up under many females and their incriminating eyes. Especially this one.

"Thank you for . . . well, just to show you how much I do see in him, watch me run," with a wicked grin, the good doctor swiveled lightly on her heel and flew past Misao and Kaoru.

Silence passed between the threesome before Misao stomped her foot and brandished her kunai.

"OK! Will someone please tell me what's going on? And you, no quick moves," Aiming the tips at Katsu's nose stopped him from getting up or answering any time soon.

. . . 

A/N: Thought I'd give you all something to chew on instead of leaving you all salivating for more. It's short, to the point, and I love it. What point you ask? The point of Megumi's past that is more theory than fact, but I uphold it with my admiration for the strength in her character.

Next chapter will get back to the real story, though this chapter is nothing to be idly passed over or sniffed at. It will also feature many exchanges that I feel have long been in the making between new loves, past enemies, and the annoying memories that just won't go away.

Leave a REVIEW if you want more dimension in this writer's fanfiction. Constructive or gushing (both flames and praises) criticisms are always welcome.

Love to all.

Starhopper


	15. A Glimpse into the Past

"Don't Say it With Flowers"

By Starhopper

Disclaimer: Don't own a darn thing. All of characters belong to Nobuhiro Watsuki and his legions of lawyers just looking for a copyright infringement. Happy now?

:: - denotes memory (that's a key element in this so-notta-chapter)

'' - thoughts

* * *

Chapter 15: A Glimpse into the Past

* * *

:: Run ::

As she ran through the marketplace, Megumi couldn't help but fall through the cracks of memory spreading like tree branches along the glassy surface of now.

:: Go ::

With each step, she was racing for her life, running until her lungs burned for fresh oxygen, escaping from a life she didn't deserve, had never deserved.

:: Freedom at last ::

If she could only escape the gnawing sense of guilt icing her veins. Then she would see the goodness life had finally bestowed upon her and accept that good things come to those who wait. Until then, the memories were tearing her mind apart, unfairly settling for a sadistic replay of the most gruesome of all characters from her past.

::Megumi bit down hard on her tongue, praying so loud in her head that she was convinced he could hear her, "No, please . . ."

That was a mistake. To openly deny him in front of his guards was the greatest mistake she could've ever made. With every defiant glance, she pushed another pin into his ego. She jabbed one hell of a nail as she pulled the shreds of her kimono around her in the name of modesty. Though it didn't really matter; Kanryuu had stripped her before, both in public and in private.

The silence dissipated with a hiss as he whirled on his heel, wheeling on her with an open palm marked for her cheek. "Now Takani, I've warned you once before," he growled, shaking his hand as if it stung more than her already bruised cheek. "Behave,"

Wriggling between her teeth, her tongue fought to hurl the slap back at him with the full force of a hundred battering rams. She knew she had the power to knock that pompous bastard flat on his back if she launched into a tirade or two. But he would return the favor tenfold once he had literally dragged her up the stairs to the tower and taught her to obey his commands.

No, she had to keep silent. Even as she struggled to maintain her dignity as half-naked and trembling as she was, he crouched to her level, the look in his eyes burning with promises of what the night had in store regardless of how she answered his questions. "Do you even understand?"

Megumi bit at the insides of her cheeks to keep from spitting a few insults at him as he reached out with a hand and pinched her chin between his fingers, jerking her head to the side to meet his lips so sharply, she later wondered how her neck hadn't snapped. Instinctively recoiling at the feel of his mouth moving lustily over hers, the sour flavor of his tongue as it hungrily stormed the barrier of her tight lips, she managed to twist out of his hold, but didn't count on the hands that held her to him. One was digging into her left shoulder, while the other slowly moved down to palm the breast carefully covered by the collar of her newly shredded kimono.

He had always been rough, and it was no better with this kiss that demanded her to bow to him. Spitting out the foul saliva floating at the back of her throat over his shoulder, enraging him to shove her flat on the ground, one hand pulling her bound wrists high above her head, he used the other to tear at the material that had managed to stay wrapped around her despite his previous attempts to rip it off. With her legs now bare, he straddled her hips and motioned to one of his guards to hold her hands down.

"Don't you ever, EVER disobey me again Megumi," he practically barked, and the sound of her own name terrified her. He had never called her by her real name; even during the first time he had punished her for refusing to make another order of opium twice in one week. That had been the first time the slaps had turned to gropes, and the close proximity of their faces had led him to exercise the only power that he had with her hands free to scratch out his eyes; that of the physical nature punctuated with frenzied lust over her mouth and breasts. But he had never dared to push it any farther.

Now that her name, the name she had been called to dinner with as a child in Aizu, had slipped past his lips, she knew that this time would be different.

Before his entire force of castle guards and officers, standing to the sides of the ballroom with the exception of that poor soul who was forced to stand not two feet away from her head as she screamed out an unreachable agony, he did the one thing she never thought he had the balls to do.

Raising himself off of her, Kanryuu drew back an arm and cuffed her squarely on her already bruised chin. He then watched with a perverted satisfaction as the tears that she so stoically held back finally trickled down the sides of her porcelain face.

"I hope this teaches you a lesson Megumi," he grinned as she shuddered with the raspy yearning he laced her name with. "Don't ever try to run," straightening his suit, the rich man nodded over to the distinct figures of the Oniwabanshuu standing in the shadows. "Or you know what will happen."

Sniffing through the tears, Megumi struggled to get herself up, but doubled over in the ache he had caused between her thighs with his posing and thrusting.

"Next time you won't be able to walk,"

"Next time you won't be able to stand," she gritted out over the pain, "I swear that,"

"If I wasn't so tired, I'd try for a second time Takani," he retorted flippantly. "Keep THAT in mind the next time you open that mouth of yours."

Megumi braced herself against the stone floor of her tower room. Casting eyes back up to Beshimi, she growled, "I can lie down by myself,"

The ninja shrugged and turning out of the room, threw a packet in her direction. "Kanryuu wishes for three orders of opium of this potency by next week." He muttered over his shoulder as the door banged shut.

Crawling over to the drug, Megumi scowled at the packet and all its contents. She finally snatched it up and gripped it hard in an iron-crushing fist and glared at it with a searing gaze of reddened chestnut. "If not for this, he'd still be living,"

'If not for this, I'd be free.' 

The moonlight streaming in from the window behind her illuminated the mirror on the other side of the room. For the first time she could see the damage he'd done in this one night. With another glance down to her fisted hand, Megumi ground out a scream and tossed the packet into the deepest shadows of the room. She tried to stand, but with a whimper fell back to her knees and pounded the floor in agony. "Damn him," through the curtain of her bangs, Megumi could make out the image of a woman she used to know.

But could not possibly recognize as herself.

Her hair was ragged and framed a face puffy and shadowed with bruises. Her arms and legs fared no better from being shoved against walls and into the arms of clients. Fingering one particularly dark one, she grinned. This was for kneeing Kanryuu in the back, putting him out for a week and a half. Of course she had been beaten for it, but looking back on the contorted facial features of his and the utterly helpless amoeba that he had become for those few days it had been worth the pain. And he had never tried to stroke the back of her thigh since.

Her fingers slipped to that attacked thigh and she quickly set about to disinfecting herself. She had been trained under a doctor; she knew exactly what needed to be done to take out the stinging sensation. Shuffling on her knees, she moved over to her makeshift bed and pulled her doctor's case out from under the folded futon, clicked open the box and took out the sanitized cotton pads.

As she worked, Megumi began to hum. It was a song her mother had taught her in Aizu, a lilting harmony that described the woes and worries of a princess trapped in a tower through the weaving melodies. Despite its melancholy story, (never mind the fact how close the fairytale resembled her own life at the moment) it also picked up her spirits. This was a song from her mother, from another life . . . from a better one at that. It served as a reminder that the proud girl from a prestigious family had not always lived like a slave, answered to a master, and succumbed to his hands. No, she once had a choice, once had a fire's freedom. Before Kanryuu swooped down and plucked her from the paradise she had ran through with a child's innocence. To think the world would come to a happily ever after, and she would ride away through the golden fields in the arms of her prince charming.

The hum gradually came to crescendo into a song that flowed from her lips and moved her body as the princess was rescued by just such a figure. Then the woman hit a particularly tender area, and sucked in a breath, thus ending her flight into a merry fantasy.

"Little did the princess know that her prince would be gutted by a rich bastard," Megumi seethed over her injury, the sunlight of the song rapidly fading into the moonlight of her tower room. "And find herself in an underworld," she let her voice drop along with her head. "Alone."

Again, as so many times before when she was cleaning her wounds, she found herself casting baleful eyes over the scalpel taunting her from its convenient position in the medical case.

She dropped the cloth and grasped the silver handle, watching with fascination as the moonlight bounced off the blade. Megumi caught the reflection of the moon dripping over the cutting edge. It was hanging outside of her room, now it was sitting on the blade, almost in her hands. How dare it mock her with its fickle ways. If it wanted to be free, it would never have come inside her tower and bring light to the darkness.

Ah, but there was one way she could control its actions, and that was by coating the moon in blood.

Flinging the scalpel into the corner, Megumi let out a blood-thinning scream and hurled herself to the floor. There was no way she could kill herself. She didn't deserve to die . . . he did. ::

And he did die, and she would have too thinking that her life was hell and not even fiery afterlife could be better. Yes, she would have died, if not for –

* * *

A/N: This was originally part of a "Trapped within Edo Castle" story about Megumi's 4 some years spent working (and being forced) under Kanryuu. But after I decided to work the idea into DSIWF for a startling turn in events, I abandoned the plot and worked to fit it in. it's a little abrupt, I know, and you probably want to know WHO saved her life (as if any rk fan doesn't know) so I won't continue blabbing on into infinity. READ and REVIEW and ye shall find out where I'm going with this! 


	16. One Startling Confession

Don't Say it With Flowers!

By Starhopper

Disclaimer: Nope, nu-uh, nothing, natta, zippo, SHIPPOU! (Hee hee, I've got my rhyming dictionary open now )

* * *

Chapter 16: One Startling Confession

* * *

"Sanosuke," 

As she ran through the marketplace, Megumi couldn't help but fall through the cracks of memory spreading like tree branches along the glassy surface of now. With each step, she was racing for her life, running until her lungs burned for fresh oxygen, escaping from a life she didn't deserve, had never deserved.

"It's different, I'm running to him now. I wish he could see me,"

A slow group shopping through the stand's wares shifted her thoughts back to actually getting to the clinic. Dodging yet another shuffling crowd, the doctor turned the opposite corner and nearly ran into a short couple wandering along the riverside. The twist of the shoulder to sidle past them threw off her balance and would have sent her crashing into the girl's side. Would have, but she fell through air when the contact should have been made.

"Sorry!" she called out as she spun around and took off in the opposite direction of the Kamiya Dojo. There was no stopping the tears this time, they came flying off her cheeks and whistled through the air past her ear like missile shots. Closing her eyes, she bolted a full speed down the street, a sandal flying off at the quick gear-change in acceleration.

But she didn't care. All she wanted was to fall into Sanosuke's arms and wrap herself around his safe and steady form. He would surely hold her up even in this time of weakness.

'I'm almost there,' Megumi heard herself thinking before she rounded the familiar corner and sped up her exhaustive pace to bound up the stairs and through the door of the Genzai Clinic.

* * *

Tsubame didn't quite know what to do. One minute she had been walking at Yahiko-kun's side, smiling at every juicy detail about his time in Kyoto. Then the next, a grip wound so tightly around her wrist that she squeaked in protest, before she was yanked sharply to the left. Her eyes and ears had popped as the samurai lost his balance and yelled. 

And then the blushing . . . oh the blushing.

She was sure she was doing exactly that as she stradled his knees and trying with any means in the world not to look him in the eye.

As he came to, he lurched up at his waist, his forehead colliding with hers. Cringing, she nodded to his questions. Forget his eyes, now his hand was clasped about her fingers.

"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked her again and this time, don't ask her why, she looked into the bashful brown eyes and swallowed her answer. "No,"

"No?"

"Iie, Yahiko-kun. My wrist hurts."

"Ah, kuso," He grabbed for the other hand she was cradling against her chest, fingers brushing over the disheveled hem of her neckline. But Yahiko was too busy inspecting her wrist to notice the fluttering of Tsubame's eyes and acknowledge the spreading of butterflies deep in his stomach. "I'm so sorry Tsubame. This wouldn't have happened if some person had been watching where they were going,"

The young samurai paused as he looked up into her eyes, then swung his head about to glance to at either side of them. He swallowed audibly as his gaze was drawn back to hers, blushing the same shade of red as the trim on her kimono.

"Eh, how long have you been . . . um,"

"Since you pulled me out of the way."

Long silence stretched like taffy between them. "Ah, aso . . ."

"Yahiko-kun, can I get up now?"

Her hands remained in his tight grip as she moved off his legs and allowed him to stand. He pulled her up with him, swallowing again when she refused to let his fingers go free, even though he'd taken care to let her have her space. She would not be pulled close to his chest this time.

The smile at seeing him blush drifted off Tsubame's face as Yahiko moved away from her, forcing his eyes to something only he could see by looking away from her. Tears that had been pounding behind her eyes for some time now became too hard to ignore. Bangs shielding her eyes, she felt three teardrops curve down the apple of her right cheek.

She wasn't sure if her companion had heard or even seen her disappointment, but as the silence between them stretched, she let go of his hand.

"Tsuba – me-chan?" His voice questioned from outside her currently hair-ridden vision. "Does your wrist hurt that much?"

She shook her head, casting the old tears into the air about her with a choked, "Iie." Looking up at him, she found that he had moved closer, the hand she'd been clinging to out and offering for her to grasp. The gesture took her by so much surprise, that she actually leapt forward to take his hand.

Before she could see the blush and relieved smile, Yahiko turned and began to march up the riverbank. "Uh, let's get going then . . . don't want busu and Kenshin to worry." As an aside, he added with a duck of his head in her direction, "Sorry again," When there was no sound of affirmation, he chanced a glance back over his shoulder.

A wide smile and her soft voice to match met his look of confusion. "You've already apologized enough, Yahiko-kun."

* * *

"Sanosuke!" Frantic, Megumi used her voice to search the back rooms where Dr. Genzai and his granddaughters lived. Finding no sign of her fiancé, she then crossed the porch, thundered down the stairs, and ran down the path to the small storage shed that had been recently remodeled as their separate residence. 

She repeated his name upon swinging the door open with a bang.

He was seated at their foyer table, perfectly calm and nibbling on onigiri that, no doubt, had been prepared by Ken-san. He looked up as she stumbled through their door, panting and gasping for air.

"Megumi?" Standing immediately as she collapsed like a puppet severed from her strings, Sanosuke crossed the small space between them, coming to a kneel in front of her. "What the - "

"San – o – suke," she breathed as he gathered her to his chest and sat back against the nearest wall. Nosing her way into the crook of his neck, Megumi wrapped herself around him in the attempt to press herself into his every pore. "You're here,"

"I'm always here for you kit," that's when he felt her cheek against his neck. It was damp. "Have you been crying?" he asked her, his tone bridging between sincere concern and the bubbling anger associated with protection. If something or someone had dared to make his Megumi cry . . .

"Maybe a little," she sniffed sourly against his bare skin. It disgusted her to admit to something so shameful. "It's nothing now, I'm feeling better. Just hold me tighter," as if showing him how, her arms crossed behind his neck and tickled the sensitive spot between his shoulder blades. "And let me know that I'm safe," As soon as the words left her mouth, Megumi's face faltered.

Until then, Sano had been enjoying her embrace and whisper-soft words. Now, he unwound her arms from around his neck and set his eyes to a determinedly serious search of her own. "Who threatened you?"

"No one threatened me." She knew better than to try to wrench her wrists out of his iron-death grip.

"Then why question your safety? Was it that yakuza leader Yamoko Seguchi?"

"Who?"

"Not him then," Sanosuke threw off to the side, then turned his head back to meet Megumi straight on. "I've never seen you so upset, except for - " Cresting only the dawn of horror, the color drained from his face and his eyes became as wide as a frightened rabbit's. It was as if the barrel of a gattling gun had been pointed at his heart and he was awaiting the pull of the trigger. "But they said he was dead. Shinomori took care of the job and slaughtered the bastard the first night he was in jail,"

Seeing the man she loved in such a terror-ridden state scared Megumi more than the prospect of Kanryuu's resurrection. Feeling his grip loosen, she wriggled her wrists free from their organic cuffs and slid her hands along his arms to catch him securely at the elbows. Giving him a little shake, she said, "He lives only in my memories Sanosuke, and that's only the beginning of the problem,"

"I don't understand,"

"I know you don't, and it's all my fault. In all the time that we've been together I never told you what happened BEFORE Kanryuu and his opium syndicate. I never told you about who I was then, who I became . . . and who I was with." She stopped as his eyes widened and his mouth became a little tighter. "If you love me, you'll love all of me and my past."

"I do, but I still don't understand, why would you think it matters now? I mean, we're engaged for Kami-sama's sake. You know about my life, the women I've been with,"

"All two of them,"

Clearly growing impatient, Sano bit off his next words with malice, "What makes you think I CARE about the men who've known you the way I have? I'm not that petty, I know you're not as pure as your principles,"

Megumi paused, mouth agape . . . before soundly punching him in the arm. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and expounded the air she'd been holding in, along with her tongue. "I would think you care to know WHY your fiancée is acting up over a silly little argument and has just fallen into your lap looking for salvation, TO-RI-A-TA-MA!" each syllable was made that more unforgettable with a well-placed slap on his shoulder. "I don't do this! This isn't ME. I'm not irrational, or emotional, or weepy-eyed like this! I think karma is telling me to finally come clean with this soiled past I've been dragging about like rotten garbage, trying to live my life as someone redeemed and born again. But I can't! The present is pressing on me now, the past has almost slipped away, but I won't let it! I won't let it go by without some sort of acknowledgement, to let him know that I don't think about him and curse his name for getting me into such despicable shit that NO Takani would ever get involved with! I'm NOT letting his memory DIE with such despair and blame etched into his gravestone. Never, never, never," throwing herself against his chest, Megumi twined her fingers in any fabric or skin she could get a hold on and let herself sob.

"You can't be talking about Kanryuu," Sanosuke whispered, that same shock of horror vibrating the timbre of his voice. Carefully, he shifted Megumi to the center of his chest and wrapped his arms around her. The way she curled closer to fit the shape of his body told him to squeeze tighter, reassure that no one would come and get her, least of all that bastard who was by now rotting in hell and begging for a bath in the molten lead.

"No, I'm not," her voice was small, more scared than he'd ever heard it before. "I'm talking about his partner, Uedo Shintaki . . . the doctor I apprenticed under. Such a brilliant man, but so very ignorant of the bad-side of Tokyo."

"I know it well," Sanosuke breathed, and at once tried to forget the montage of gruesome images the memory dredged up.

The woman in his arms turned her face up to him, her eyes red and cheeks puffy. Between sniffs, she tried to get her breathing back to normal, and finally took a breath before sitting more confidently up in his embrace. "I met him on the first day I arrived in Tokyo. Imagine, I was only eighteen and homeless. I had made a pretty decent living in my journey, stopping at the farmhouses to help people with what little knowledge of medicine I had, in return for food and a dry place to sleep. But I always kept my sophisticated air that I had breathed in Aizu, and was determined to finally realize my dream of becoming a respected doctor like my father. I come walking into town, looking like I'm out to rule the world in a ragged working smock and scabby knees, and the first person I see walking down the street is Shintaki, coming back from a house-call. He stops me on the spot, asks if I had been to see a doctor lately, then offers to have a look at my lacerations. During the actual visit, I corrected him on a choice of painkillers and I guess he saw some potential. I offered to become his apprentice, if he wanted a female working as his eventual competition. He laughed and patted me on the head, saying 'I'm sure you will Takani-san,' and that was it.

"Our relationship was simple for the first few months. I assisted him in healing minor afflictions first, then moved onto surgery, and finally mixing pharmaceutical concoctions. Like all the Takani's that came before, I was quite proficient at grinding powders and administering medications that Shintaki decided to teach me how to make opium. He first explained that this was a drug with the potential to save lives." She paused to snort derisively. "And I believed him. I had no idea what was going on because by then I had lived with him and studied with him for nearly a year, and," Megumi swallowed, looked at the ground, then back up into her beloved's eyes. "and by then I was blinded by my adolescent love for him. I had never met anyone like him before, so kind, and caring, always concerned about the continuing health of his patients. And he loved me too. He doted upon his 'little flower' and was there for me when I needed someone the most. He took a chance on me, and I misinterpreted it as being fated to be with him. I was so childish, I should have seen Kanryuu standing by the doorway, taking the opium I had produced for the money that Shintaki used to buy flowers to pretty up the clinic with. And I just sat there like a dutiful wife I was soon to become, making opium and smiling sweetly as my darling doctor skirted death with a crimelord.

"Then came the night of his proposal. He was so nervous, and endearing as ever. He was shorter than me, and older by about ten years. But I didn't care. I just wanted to accept his offer and have a life already set out for me, already easy and comfortable.

"But then Beshimi broke in and stormed the way for Kanryuu. The argument ensued after Kanryuu refused to accept a month's worth of drugs and demanded that Shintaki come up with something before he slit his throat. I crouched in the corner as Shintaki argued in my defense, and with horror discovered that he had never told Kanryuu about me. I was his supplier and a valuable commodity. I could see the gears turning in that wicked brain of his before Kanryuu decided to draw his katana and cut him across the chest. He knocked over the table I had set out for him, and the food I had prepared as he fell. I rushed over to him, and looked up into Kanryuu's eyes for the first time. It was then that I realized I had given away my hiding spot, and was in clear line for Beshimi to grab me. He used some sort of narcotic to keep me unconscious and when I awoke, I was sitting in the observatory room of Edo Castle, exactly four years before you stopped me from killing myself.

"But as I told you then, that wasn't the first time I had tried, no. The first time Kanryuu touched me with those money-grubbing paws I immediately went to my room and grabbed a scalpel. I was so determined to kill myself, afraid of what Kanryuu might do next, that I nearly went through with it too. But at the second the blade cut my skin, I stopped and clotted the blood with a scrap from the curtains in my room.

"Kanryuu didn't stop touching me. He kept saying I was his property, his woman now that he had killed my first man, and that it was only proper to let him have his way. But I put up a fight each and every time, even when he did eventually rape me."

* * *

Sanosuke knew he had heard the words, heard them from the mouth he had kissed seven hundred times and more, but . . . 

Megumi. _HIS_ Megitsune had been _raped_. RAPED. The word was foreign to his lips, and even as he mouthed it over and over again, he couldn't believe that it had happened. It didn't sound right; it didn't make any sense. HOW, how could this happen? HOW could Megumi sit there calmly and tell him that despicable bastard had done the one thing he had feared would happen to any woman in his life? HOW?

Megumi was not sitting quietly anymore. The tears had started to fall again, and cupping a cheek, Sanosuke moved her face closer for him to kiss. He barely tasted the salt, only lapped up the sadness in her voice as she continued through a throat constricted with emotions left untold:

"It all started with a dispute over opium. He wanted more, I didn't make enough. He touched me again like he always did when I turned away from him in a huff, and this time didn't let go when I slapped him. He pushed me down on the floor, tore my kimono, and had one of the guards pin my wrists above my head. That ball-less coward, I watched his eyes as Kanryuu publicly raped me. He saw my pleading, winced as I whined – I just wanted to scream Sano. I just wanted it to all end. But I knew that's what he wanted to hear. Kanryuu wanted me to suffer and feel his dominance over a lowly female."

Sanosuke bristled and pulled back, thus ending the ministrations. He wanted to shower her in pity, but he knew she would take it as an insult. He had learned long ago that her pride would always come first. It was something he both loved and hated about her, for he both loved and hated himself for the same personality flaw. Ignoring the instinct to cuddle her close to his chest and draw her into a pitying gaze, Sanosuke merely stared hard into her eyes and waited for her response.

"But that was something I could never give him. I kept my mouth shut and let him have his fun. That same guard helped me up afterwards, and I soundly punched him in the mouth. He looked at me with a look that said, 'I deserve it' and shrugged. At that moment, I knew I never wanted to see another man ever again, much less let him get close enough to take advantage of me." Her fingers were suddenly gliding over his jaw and lips were brushing his ear. "That's why it took so long for us to become _us_. You, my hero, arrived a week too late for me to show any gratitude. I just hated you for being _not_ Kanryuu or Shintaki either. You were completely different from both ends of the spectrum, and I didn't know if I could trust a man so soon after _him_. I'm sorry,"

"Megumi," He caught her hand and leaned out of the kisses to his neck. Looking into her frightened Bristol eyes, he licked his lips and pulled the captive fingertips to his mouth to kiss in reassurance. "I love you, I proposed to you, and nothing's gonna change in that department." He smiled at the peace that flickered over her features. "I just wish you would've told me all about this earlier. Didn't you trust me? Didn't you know I loved you too much to let you go? Even if I'm not your first love," he couldn't hide the longing from his voice. His boyish naivety had been hoping against all odds that he was. Now that he knew he wasn't, the truth did sting a little in the absence of that foolish dream. Seeing how much his voice grated over her frazzled nerves, he cleared his throat and changed course. "All I'm sayin is that I'm gonna need some time to let all this sink in. But I still want to know why you're telling me all this now."

Megumi sunk back on her knees, steadying herself with a hand on his knee. Hiding under the curtain of her hair, she made sure he couldn't see how her other hand touched her stomach briefly before moving to push the barrier behind her ears. "I suddenly realized that I needed to tell you about the woman you were marrying. I was ashamed! I don't know if you've ever met an abused woman before, but we don't go telling complete strangers about something very private and very embarrassing that happened to us. That's why, for the longest time, I had myself convinced that I was in love with Ken-san. He was safe, and sweet, the most likely to stay a gentleman. But I wasn't head over heels, the way I was every time you came walking through those doors with a sheepish grin. I got dizzy and excited, and worried that I was falling again for the wrong reasons. I've had kindness shown to me and love given, but I've also been deceived, hit, raped, and lied to."

"You telling me that you were attacked doesn't change how I feel or how I'll treat you," he barked defensively, hunching his shoulders in a manner of protection. "I don't think I know anyone else as deeply as I know you,"

"You know me, but now you _really know_ me. That's the greatest gift I can give you after you've done so much for me." Again, she drew her fingers across her stomach, but this time in a deliberate, eye-catching gesture.

Sanosuke felt something akin to a butterfly glide low in the pit of his stomach. Lips again dry as stone, the ex-fighter-for-hirer began to run his tongue over them, but suddenly decided to shut his mouth and lean in to hear her confirm his suspicions. Memories of the past week filtered through his present vision of this woman who was glowing brighter and brighter with an unidentifiable strength by the minute. While her moods had swung wildly about, her appetite had increased. And then there were the mornings where she had sprung out of bed and sprinted out of their room, coming back looking more tired than when she had left. They were both young, and -

He really didn't want to wait any longer or cause further delay. He wanted her to say it fast before he could get the chance to hopeful or disappointed.

Drawing upon her reserves, Megumi looked him in the eyes, her own brimming with tears. "You have to know about the past, in order to accept the future," But he knew those particular words were not for his benefit. She nearly whispered a perfect copy of them to herself before facing him loud and clear. "I didn't know if . . . if there was enough trust in the world to make me fall apart like this. I still don't believe it, because Kanryuu was so," her nose wrinkled and her lips curled in disgust. "so brutal during that first time, that I didn't think it was possible, nor would I actually think I could con – but apparently it's possible. _VERY _possible. And I hate to ruin this traditional fairytale of love that we've got going, but it seems that it can't be helped." She shrugged her shoulders, trying to laugh, and crying with every forced chuckle. "I'm pregnant Tori-atama,"

"You don't look that happy about it," Sanosuke deflated as he let out the breath he'd been holding in anticipation.

"It's not that," she sobbed, pulling back as he tried to hold her. "It's just, I wanted to be a good wife, one that could show up Shintaki's young one, and – I let myself get pregnant,"

"Hey, I was there too ya know," he smirked, leaning forward to follow her as she moved away again. "It's not like you had the choice,"

The tears stopped abruptly. Megumi looked more assertive and sure of herself than ever before. "But I knew the risks, and I'm a Takani, not some common and careless prostitute,"

Catching her chin with his pointer, he sighed. "There's that pride again. You're no whore, you're engaged to the one man that you've been involved with for nearly two years,"

"And I'm not _married _to that man yet," she growled back, calling upon that banked irritation she had shown when they were arguing about his bathing habits. "How will I look with this big belly come my wedding day?" pointing to her stomach, she was just entreating him to palm it himself . . .

. . . and so he did.

Too stunned to retaliate, Megumi froze, her finger still long and gesturing to the area under her working smock. "Bu – eh, you,"

"You'll look beautiful," he breathed, catching her unawares as he kissed her mouth gently. "Besides, if we do it soon, your belly won't be that big for anyone to notice. And really, who's going to judge you? Not me, and certainly not Kenshin and Jou-chan. The itachi and Shinomori might make some sniff of disapproval, but who cares? You are _happy_ that you're having _my_ baby, right?"

"Sanosuke, I didn't know I _wanted_ a family, much less a child until I fell in love with you," She smiled and placed both of her hands on either side of his face. "I'm so happy, happier than I've ever been. You are everything I didn't know I wanted, and this child is something I didn't know I needed."

"That's a yes, right?"

Megumi shook her head in disbelief and rolled her eyes. "Yes," the 's' was lost in his mouth as she pulled him close for a kiss.

"Let's get married next week," Sanosuke offered between kisses as he eased her onto her back.

"I'm almost two months pregnant,"

He paused. "..."

"Sanosuke?"

"This weekend then."

* * *

A/N: I did it. I followed cliché . . . but I've been wanting to do this for awhile now. How adorable would their children be? I mean, look at Kenji – best of both parents. 

As you all can tell, this story has to be winding down, just like Despite Fate. But I'll make the most out of what's left. More Kenshin, Yahiko, and Aoshi moments with their significant others!

Please REVIEW to tell me how I did, and if I sucked, then give me some CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. I positively LOVE that stuff.

Peace and love,

Starhopper


End file.
